HBO Max earned the largest share of new streaming subscribers for SVODs in the fourth quarter, according to Kantar’s Entertainment on Demand Service.
During that period, HBO Max attracted 19.2% of new subscribers, an uptick from 13.4% in the third quarter. Some 41% of new subscribers cited specific content, such as “Wonder Woman 1984,” as a strong driver.
An added plus was the corporate decision to release Warner Brothers films in movie theaters and on HBO Max at the same time throughout 2021.
Overall, the combined HBO Max and HBO, the linear TV network, have 38 million subscribers.
While the metrics company didn’t break out specific HBO Max numbers for Q4, it did estimate the overall number of U.S. SVOD subscribers hit 233 million by the end of the year. It notes the average home has 3.5 streaming video subscriptions.
Other streamers also saw growth in fourth-quarter 2020.
Amazon Prime Video was in second place with 18.2% of new subscribers, up from 17.75% in Q3; Hulu drew 13.7%, up from 13.5%; Disney+ attracted 13%, up from 12.7; Netflix got 7.4%, down from 9.8% and Apple TV+ also dipped — a 5.9% share, down from 6.7%.
However, for 2020 overall, Kantar reported Disney+ attracted 18.3% of new SVOD subscribers, followed by Prime Video with 17%, Hulu at 13.2%, HBO Max at 12%, Netflix at 12.5% and Apple TV+ with 6.2%.
The big shows of the quarter included “The Queen’s Gambit,” “The Crown” and “The Mandalorian.”