How is Max? So far, 20% of views go to Discovery+ programs
Max is only 11 days old and we’re already getting our first usage stats. You know, beyond the early viewership numbers of the “Succession” series finale.
In an interview with Wall Street JournalWarner Bros. Discovery streaming chief JB Perrette said 70% of HBO Max subscribers have switched to Max. It’s less definitive than it might sound; that means that seven out of 10 users of the old app downloaded the new one. On newer gateway devices, it’s a fairly automated update process; older ones will require more manual access. Those HBO Max members who have yet to download Max are still paying for their subscription.
Perrette said Max is “exceeding expectations” and that both hours viewed (per subscriber) and total content consumed have increased every day since launch. Max was launched at a serendipitous moment, days before the ‘Succession’ and ‘Barry’ series finals.
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There’s also this: On HBO Max, about 80 percent of subscribers who’ve jumped into the app would start watching the content, according to Perrette. In Max’s first week, it was 90%. However, about 20 percent of the content watched on Max comes from Discovery+. True crime shows top performers, with Perrette picking up the docuseries ‘Jared from Subway: Catching a Monster’.
When reached by IndieWire, a spokesperson for Max declined to elaborate on the stats Perrette shared with the Wall Street Journal. As reported earlier this week, Max has more Discovery+ series and episodes than HBO series and episodes.
With Max as a combination of HBO Max and Discovery+, Discovery+’s standalone service has lost some subscribers. “We’ve seen an increase in cancellations on Discovery+, very much in line with what we expected,” Perrette said.
As of March 31, HBO, HBO Max and Discovery+ combined have 97.6 million subscribers. Warner Bros. Discovery made a surprise profit from its U.S. streaming business in the first quarter of 2023, and company president and CEO David Zaslav now expects its direct-to-consumer business to make cash for the full year. solar.
There was at least one clear downside to Max’s first week and a half: the snafu of creator credits. The current credits screen in Max’s film library groups directors, writers, and producers all under one “Creators” category. You can imagine how well it fared in the filmmaking community.
Don’t worry, they are working on it. The day after Max’s launch, a spokesperson shared the following statement on the matter with IndieWire: “We agree that the talent behind Max’s content deserves to have their work properly recognized. We will correct the credits, which were garbled due to a technical oversight in the transition from HBO Max to Max, and we apologize for this error.”
In their interview, Perrette “took responsibility for the hiccup,” wrote the Journal, and “said he was confident it would be resolved in the coming weeks.”
Max, like HBO Max before it, costs $15.99 a month for an ad-free experience; with ads, it’s $9.99. (There’s also a new ad-free “Ultimate” plan for $19.99 a month that allows for four simultaneous streams, 4K resolution, 100 offline downloads, and Dolby Atmos audio.) The standalone Discovery+ will set you back $6.99 a month. month ad-free or $4.99 with commercials.