SVOD earnings season wraps
Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, and AMC Networks reported earnings this week, putting a bow on the major streaming services for the quarter ending March 30, 2024.
Disney (Hulu and Disney+)
- Disney+ added 6m global subscribers (UCAN +7.9m)
- 149.6m global subs (UCAN 54.0m)
- Hulu (SVOD Only) added 700,00 subscribers, up to 45.8m
- Turned a small (+$47m) profit excluding ESPN+
- Disney+ will be adding an ESPN tile this year
- Password sharing crackdown starting in June, with wider rollout in September
- New bundle announced (see below)
Warner Bros. Discovery (Max)
- Max added 2m global subscribers (+700k domestic)
- 99.6m global subscribers (52.7m domestic)
- EBITDA up 72% to $86m
- Layoffs and price increases expected for added cost-cutting (to hit profit targets)
- New bundle announced (see below)
AMC Networks (AMC+, IFC, Acorn TV, Allblk, Shudder, Sundance Now, and Hidive)
- Added 100k subs, up to 11.5M
- Streaming revenue up 3% to $145M
The Circana Take:
- With all streamers posting quarterly subscriber growth (Apple and Amazon do not formally report subscription numbers), streaming video looks quite healthy right now. But the core metric is profitability and there is work to be done to get to the margins previously achieved by network distribution and advertising.
- We are approaching an inflection point in streaming video with a landscape that will look quite different a year from now. Look for smaller players to continue to partnering/bundling and larger services to evaluate the benefits of M&A.
Disney+, Hulu, and Max announce SVOD Bundle
While timing and pricing have yet to be announced, Disney and WBD have confirmed that a new bundle will be coming this summer. The three-service combo will offer both ad-free and ad-supported viewing and will be available for purchase from any of the participating streamers’ websites. This partnership marks the first DTC bundle of major competitive streaming services.
The Circana Take:
- The era of consolidation continues in the streaming universe. Expect to see more bundles in the near term as they offer lower churn and higher lifetime value.