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WBD adds 1.1 million streaming subscribers

The logo of HBO Max appears on a television screen.
The logo of HBO Max appears on a television screen. (Graphic by The Desk)

Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) added 1.1 million to its direct-to-consumer streaming services HBO Max and Discovery Plus, the company disclosed on Thursday.

The total number of direct-to-consumer streaming services stands at over 96.1 million around the world, WBD revealed in its quarterly earnings report.



The growth was primarily focused around HBO Max and came at a time when the streaming service added a number of high-value series, including the second season of “The White Lotus.”

The majority of the net subscriber additions occurred in the United States; just 100,000 new customers were added to HBO Max and Discovery Plus in international markets.



On Thursday, executives at WBD said they are still moving forward with plans to merge the content libraries of HBO Max and Discovery Plus into a single, unified app. The app is expected to take the place of HBO Max, and could simply be called “Max,” according to reports.

While earlier plans initially called for WBD to also close Discovery Plus, there are some reports that suggest WBD will continue to offer Discovery Plus as a lifestyle-oriented streaming service that will cost less than a subscription to HBO Max.



David Zaslav, the chief executive of WBD, said the company will outline more plans for the unified app in April, with the app set to debut over the summer in the United States. It will roll out to other territories, including Latin America and Europe, later this year.

Less clear is how much the unified app will cost, but a recent price hike on HBO Max subscribers suggest it will cost at least $10 a month for a version supported with advertisements and $16 a month for a version without commercials.

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About the Author:

Matthew Keys

Matthew Keys is a nationally-recognized, award-winning journalist who has covered the business of media, technology, radio and television for more than 11 years. He is the publisher of The Desk and contributes to Know Techie, Digital Content Next and StreamTV Insider. He previously worked for Thomson Reuters, the Walt Disney Company, McNaughton Newspapers and Tribune Broadcasting.
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