Streaming growth continued at Warner Bros Discovery in the second quarter with the addition of 3.4 million subscribers.
Significantly, 3.2 million of these came from international markets, following the “very successful” launch of HBO Max in Australia at the end of Q1. This included “healthy retail traction” in addition to a wholesale partnership with Foxtel.
The company says the early success in Australia reinforces confidence in planned launches in Germany, Italy and the UK & Ireland, where HBO content is currently licensed to Sky.
Management is predicting Warner Bros Discovery will reach 150 million Streaming subscribers by the end of 2026.
Meanwhile, a restructuring of a US distribution deal for HBO Max had a modest impact on domestic ARPU and distribution revenues.
Global streaming ARPU decreased 11% to $7.14, primarily attributable to growth in lower ARPU international markets and an 8% decrease in domestic streaming ARPU to $11.16.
The decrease in domestic ARPU was driven by the broader wholesale distribution of HBO Max Basic with Ads. In all distribution revenues were relatively unchanged, as growth in global streaming subscribers was offset by continued domestic linear pay-TV subscriber declines.
