Merging
Yesterday saw the US launch of Max, a new streaming service combining content from HBO Max and Discovery+, finally a single place to watch prestige HBO dramas alongside shows like Dr. Pimple Popper.
Elsewhere, Paramount+ and Showtime have announced plans to bucket their movies and shows next month. This consolidation is good news for users who feel overwhelmed by the number of subscriptions in their lives, with major players hoping to hold onto customers for longer, in an industry with little loyalty and high churn rates.
Churning
There’s been a host of articles proclaiming the end of the streaming wars in the last year or so, with critics pointing to decreasing content spend, consumer fatigue, and slowing subscriber growth for prominent streamers like Netflix after its (relatively) weak 2022. Whether cramming content libraries with hundreds of movies and shows from multiple sources is the long-term answer to customer retention, however, remains to be seen.
On average, streaming services have been shedding 5.8% of their subscribers every month so far in 2023, equivalent to roughly 1-in-17 customers cancelling. The streamers at the heart of the merging trend fared worse than that too, with Discovery+ and HBO Max down 6.1% and 7%, respectively, while Paramount+ and Showtime saw even greater churns of 6.9% and 8.2%. Interestingly, despite complaints about the quality of its content, Netflix's churn remains best-in-class, shedding just over 3% of its subscriber base every month.
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