HBO Max has just taken another major step in streaming to cement its position as the main competitor to Netflix and Disney Plus.
For the first time since its 2020 launch, the streamer was listed by name on media analyst Nielsen's Monthly Platform Rankings, having taken 1% of total US viewing time in the month of XNUMX. April
Puede que no parezca un número para escribir en casa, pero hasta ahora HBO Max había limitedado a la categoría de "otros transmisores" en la instantanea de audiencia regular de la compañía de datos. By comparison, Disney Plus and Netflix accounted for 1,7% and 6,6% of total US viewing time, respectively, in April, while streaming services as a whole broke the 30% barrier to the primera vez.
This last statistic is not surprising. Cable listening consumed just 36,8% of total viewing time last month, and it doesn't look like it will be long before streaming becomes the dominant method of accessing entertainment around the world (general use of TV fell almost 2% from March).
But HBO's continued push suggests that Netflix and Disney Plus won't be the only services responsible for the change when the time comes. The latter still has nearly double the number of subscribers as of this writing, though with Netflix customer leaks and HBO Max rapidly expanding into European territories, streamer Warner Bros. Discovery has every chance of leveling the field. game in a few years.
In January, we published a story detailing HBO Max's breakout year in 2021: The service surpassed its year-end subscriber goal and beyond, but we also warned that it wasn't expected to repeat that same success in 2022.
Our skepticism stemmed from fears that the global pandemic will result in a disproportionate number of HBO Max subscribers in 2021, with Warner's day-and-date release schedule making blockbusters like The Suicide Squad, The Matrix Resurrections and Dune are available to view on the broadcast. at the same time as their respective theatrical releases (essentially making HBO Max a more attractive property than it could have been).
Warner ruled out date-and-day movie releases earlier this year, suggesting HBO Max might not get a similar injection of subscribers in 2022, but the streamer's recent content slate continued to prove critical and commercial nonetheless. attractive.
Though it didn't premiere simultaneously on HBO Max and in theaters, movies like The Batman still hit the streamer after 45 days, while new shows like Euphoria, Peacemaker and The Flight Attendant are among the most popular TV premieres this year.
HBO's library is also bound to improve. The likes of Westworld season 4, Game of Thrones spin-off House of the Dragon, and (we think) The Last of Us series should hit HBO Max before the end of the year, while new episodes of Barry and Succession are also on the way.
The thing is, with all the noise surrounding the struggles facing Netflix and the relentless coverage of Disney's Star Wars and Marvel properties, it can be easy to dismiss the so-called streaming wars as a two-horse race. But HBO Max is in poor health and the service could come and usurp one of its two biggest rivals much sooner than we think.