In this photo illustration, an HBO Max logo is displayed on a smartphone.
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AT&T increased its subscriber forecast for HBO Max and HBO on Friday.
The telecommunications company, which owns WarnerMedia, expects worldwide subscribers between 120 and 150 million for HBO Max and HBO by the end of 2025.
As early as October 2019, the company had set itself the goal of reaching 50 million US subscribers by 2025. That’s a relatively low bar considering that the premium cable channel HBO already had around 33 million subscribers before HBO Max launched.
The company also expects to have between 67 and 70 million HBO Max subscribers worldwide by the end of 2021. AT&T had previously set a forecast of 75 to 90 million subscribers worldwide by 2025.
HBO Max is expected to expand to around 60 markets outside of the US this year and launch a lower-cost version with advertising in June.
In January, WarnerMedia reported that HBO and HBO Max combined had 41.5 million domestic subscribers in the fourth quarter, up 20% from 34.6 million last year.
Of the 37.7 million HBO Max eligible subscribers, around 30 million were from wholesalers and 6.8 million were through retail channels. Retail subscribers are those who purchase the streaming service directly, not through a cable subscription or any other streaming subscription.
AT & T’s new forecast suggests Netflix recently surpassed 200 million subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2020 and Disney’s streaming service Disney + surpassed 100 million subscribers just 16 months after its launch.
