Skip to main content

HBO Now surpasses 2 million domestic subscribers

HBO Now surpasses 2 million domestic subscribers

Share this story

HBO Now

More than 2 million US subscribers are now tuning in to HBO’s standalone streaming service, which launched in April 2015. 

Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes revealed the subscription growth during today’s conference call discussing the company’s latest earnings report, according to Variety. The pace of subscription growth has picked up slightly in the past year, since the cable-free service had only acquired “about 800,000” customers after its first 10 months on the market, falling short of investor expectations at the time.

With cultural powerhouses like Game of Thrones and Westworld on its side, HBO Now’s subscriber base feels a bit low. The news from Time Warner comes just days after Netflix’s global expansion garnered a record 7.04 million new subscribers in the last quarter, bringing its total membership up to 93.8 million. Of course, the majority of Netflix’s new subscribers are coming from overseas, but the streaming service did boast nearly 50 million domestic members by the end of last year.

Slow but steady growth for HBO Now

HBO Now also trails far behind Hulu — which hit 12 million subscribers in May 2016. A better comparison might be Sling TV, the over-the-top internet subscription service from Dish Network which took nearly two years to reach 1 million subscribers and offers more than 30 channels to HBO’s one. And HBO Now will also have to compete with a new player: AT&T’s DirecTV Now, which is off to a strong start after adding more than 200,000 paying subscribers in its first month.