Time Warner, the parent company of HBO, CNN, TBS and Warner Bros. reported better-than-expected quarterly profit today. In that report the company stated that HBO’s revenue increased 4 percent to almost 5 Billion dollars. That’s a lot of Game of Thrones DVDs!
The CEO of Time Warner, Jeff Bewkes also said in a separate statement that HBO recorded its biggest gain in domestic subscribers (USA) in 17 years. 2 Million of you decided that HBO was a necessary luxury in your home. Were you one of them?
World-wide HBO has about 116 million total subscribers now and 135 if you count Cinemax compared to about 44 million using Netflix, a company seen by many in the industry as direct competition to the Home Box Office. Buzzfeed even declares: It’s official, HBO is Way More Profitable than Netflix. HBO’s international revenues increased to almost 25 percent of its total last year. HBO plans on continuing to expand abroad in 2014 and beyond.
We’ve certainly noticed the uptick in interest around HBO’s properties. From Girls to True Detective to Game of Thrones to hidden gems like Veep if you’re not a subscriber then you’re probably missing out on some water cooler talk around the office, on Facebook and at the dinner table.
Some of you may not be able to justify 16 bucks a month for a subscription but remember: It’s not TV. It’s HBO.
We hope HBO keeps the wheels rolling so that they have incentive to keep making the best content on television. Here’s to another great year!
