WarnerMedia made the tough decision not to renew its deal with Amazon to carry HBO after it expired in mid-September, leading to a small exodus of subscribers from the premium cable channel and streaming service HBO Max. The company was willing to take the short-term hit in order to gain long-term control over its relationship with its consumers, and that is reflected in WarnerMedia’s Q3 earnings report, as HBO and HBO Max lost 1.8 million U.S. customers.
But streaming these days is a global game, and on that front WarnerMedia continues to grow. Overall, the HBO/HBO Max combo added 1.9 million new subscribes in Q3, largely thanks to increasing uptake in Latin America. The brand now stands at 69.4 million global customers, a 12.5 million increase over the past 12 months. Parent company AT&T expects HBO and HBO Max to hit 70-73 million subscribers by the end of 2021.
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