Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) has reported a gain of 7.2m direct-to-consumer (DTC) subscribers during the third quarter of 2024, mostly due to the launch of the Max streaming service in Latin America and parts of Europe.
The company’s international DTC subscriber count jumped to 57.9m, up from 50.8m at the end of the second quarter. The increase gave WBD a global total of 110.5m subscribers, up from 103.3m, the company’s largest quarterly growth since the launch of Max in 2020.
Max is set to launch in seven markets across Southeast Asia this month and in Australia next year, with several major European markets due to get the service in 2026.
The streaming growth helped WBD’s DTC segment show a 9% increase in revenues to $2,634m, and an adjusted EBITDA of $289m.
Overall, however, the media giant saw revenues decrease 3% from the previous year’s third quarter to $9.6bn. Adjusted EBITDA was down 18% to $2.4bn and net income was $135m, compared to a loss of $417m the year before.
The results were clouded by a 17% decline in revenues, to $2,680m, in WBD’s studios segment. Theatrical revenue was down 40%, with Beetlejuice and Twisters not managing to perform on the same level as last year’s Barbie.
In a call to discuss the results with analysts, WBD president and CEO David Zaslav suggested that Donald Trump’s win in the US presidential election may lead to more consolidation among his company and other media giants.
The new administration, said Zaslav, “may offer a pace of change and an opportunity for consolidation that may be quite different, that would provide a real positive and accelerated impact on this industry that’s needed.”
The media industry “needs to be meaningfully consolidated,” said the WBD head. “These are great companies and if the best content is going to win, there needs to be some consolidation in order to have these businesses be stronger and to have a better consumer experience.”
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