The chief executive of WarnerMedia says the company’s HBO Max streaming service “broke through” in 2021 and has earned a seat with Disney and Netflix as the leaders of the streaming wars — even as it lags behind by tens of millions of subscribers.
“It’s fair to say it’s becoming a three-horse race at the front of the pack,” Jason Kilar told the FT. “With regards to storytelling . . . and when you look at the US subscriber numbers, things drop off a fair bit after the first three courses.”
The company last week reported it had reached 74m subscribers to HBO Max and HBO by the end of 2021, up from 61m in 2020. People who pay for HBO’s television channel have access to the streaming service for free.
Despite Kilar’s enthusiasm, HBO Max is still well behind Netflix and Disney, which reported 214m and 118m subscribers, respectively, at the start of October.
Warner’s numbers also come with a caveat: the 74m includes people who pay for HBO’s cable channel. The company has been encouraging these customers to sign up for HBO Max, which they get for free. Kilar said the “vast majority” of the 74m are using HBO Max, but declined to provide specifics.
Warner in 2020 launched HBO Max, throwing its hat into the ring as traditional media groups look to compete with Netflix and secure their spot in a digital entertainment world. AT&T, the telecoms group that owns WarnerMedia, hired Kilar, a streaming veteran who previously co-founded Hulu, to build out HBO Max.
HBO Max had a slow start, despite holding one of the most prized portfolios in entertainment — including Warner Bros film and television studios, the HBO network and a portfolio of cable channels including CNN.
The service was for several months marred by technical glitches, consumer confusion and a negotiations stand-off that prevented people from watching HBO Max on Roku’s popular streaming devices.
The company has added 13m subscribers in the past year, helped by a slate of programming including new seasons of Succession and Insecure, as well as a bold strategy to release all Warner Bros films to HBO Max for no additional fee.
Disney Plus’s 118m in October was up by 44m subscribers from a year earlier — a much faster pace of growth. However, Disney’s service costs considerably less than HBO Max and was boosted by a push into India, where subscribers pay less than a dollar a month.
Kilar said Warner would invest more than $18bn on content this year as it looks to keep pace with rivals. The top eight US media groups plan to spend at least $115bn on new movies and television shows this year, the FT has calculated, as they seek to pad their streaming services.
Disney and Netflix are expected to spend more than $33bn and $17bn each in 2022. “What you’re seeing is those folks in those positions are investing aggressively,” said Kilar. “We’re one of those companies.”
HBO Max has been unable to launch in the UK due to a licensing agreement with Sky. When asked when the service would debut in the UK, Kilar said: “It’s our ambition to bring HBO Max to the UK. I’m trying not to be cagey about it, but we do have a contract that obviously is important to us.”
WarnerMedia is set for its second change in ownership in three years. AT&T in May agreed to spin off and combine WarnerMedia with rival Discovery, just three years after acquiring the company, a humbling retreat from Hollywood for the telecom company.
That transaction is expected to close this year, pending approval from regulators. Kilar was largely kept in the dark about AT&T’s negotiations to divest of WarnerMedia. Observers expect he will leave the company when the deal closes.
When asked whether he planned to exit, Kilar demurred: “I get that question a lot. I haven’t shared my plans but I will later this year.”
