In its first quarter as a merged entity, Warner Bros. Discovery has posted a domestic loss of 300,000 subscribers but an international gain of 2 million–bringing the media and entertainment conglomerate’s total subscriber count for Q2 to 92.1 million. That figure includes both HBO Max and Discovery+ subscribers, plus the HBO app.
In Q1, WarnerMedia reported 76.8 million subscribers to HBO or HBO Max last quarter, and Discovery reported 24 million direct-to-consumer subscribers–which taken together suggests a decline in subscribers from Q1 to Q2. Despite this loss heading into Q2, The Hollywood Reporter reports that Cowen analysts had previously upgraded Warner Bros. Discovery to outperform its own projections since CEO David Zaslav announced a plan not to outspend Netflix or other competitors.
“Performance will heavily depend on CEO David Zaslav’s ability to blend the disparate cultures of the two companies and navigate his relationships with the Hollywood community,” Cowen analysts wrote.
However, as of this writing and immediately after the Q2 earnings call, Warner Bros. Discovery fell 10% from 17.48 to 16.03.
Warner Bros. Discovery hopes to achieve 130 million global subscribers by 2025.
Netflix, historically the premier streaming service, has taken a few hits this year. In its Q2 report back in July, the company experienced its largest subscriber churn in its history–losing nearly a million subscribers in a single quarter.
