The future of Warner Bros. Discovery remains a question as it actively considers potential for a sale of parts or all of its business, as well as a previously planned spin-off of linear networks. But in the meantime, the media company is looking to scale HBO Max globally with a coming wave of international market launches and expects to reach 150 million subscribers by the end of next year.
During Q3 earnings Thursday executives predicted 2026 to be a major year of growth for HBO Max, thanks in part to a focus on content quality and existing recognition in new markets where its content was already licensed.
WBD ended Q3 with 128 million streaming subscribers globally, increasing by 2.3 million compared to Q2. That includes adding about 200,000 subscribers in the U.S. and Canada for a domestic base of 58 million and adding 2.1 million subscribers internationally for a base of 70 million.
WBD’s Q3 streaming revenues of $2.6 billion were flat year-over-year, while streaming Adjusted EBITDA improved from $289 million a year ago to $345 million in Q3 2025.
As WBD grew subscribers in the period, global streaming average revenue per user (ARPU) declined 16% to $6.64, primarily attributed to expansions in lower ARPU international markets. Domestic streaming ARPU was $10.40, down 13% year-over-year, while international ARPU dipped from $4.05 in Q3 2024 to $3.70.
Streaming ad revenue of $235 million was up 14% year-over-year thanks to an increase in ad tier subscribers. WBD expects to see a negative impact on streaming ad revenue in Q4 from the loss of NBA rights, with greater headwinds in the first half of 2026. Streaming content revenue in Q3 declined to $79 million as HBO Max launches in new international launches resulted in lower third-party licensing.
However, WBD’s earlier practice of licensing content to third parties in international markets, alongside its focus on quality programming attached to the HBO brand that appears to be resonating in markets outside the U.S., is part of what executives suggested boost the company’s confidence in the ability to scale the streamer globally.
HBO Max is now available in more than 100 global markets after recent debuts in smaller markets in EMEA and APAC, as well as a launch in Australia this year where the service has seen early success.
WBD’s letter to shareholder said Q3 subscriber growth was partly from greater penetration in existing markets and “strong consumer uptake” in newer markets like Australia.
And positive signs in that market are helping underpin confidence for upcoming debuts of HBO Max in key markets of Italy, Germany, the UK, and Ireland.
The letter to shareholders noted the markets HBO Max is extending to are similar to Australia in that WBD previously licensed HBO and Warner Bros. Studios content to local distributors, so consumers are already familiar with the brand and its popular titles and franchises.
Similarly, asked by equity analysts on the call about factors fueling WBD’s conviction in its ability to scale the streamer globally and compete with other major SVOD platforms, WBD CEO David Zaslav again held up HBO Max as a unique global product with a vast film and TV library that includes hit original content, as well as local sports and local content outside of the U.S.
“We’re starting to see that there’s a real advantage in us having a differentiated view within the marketplace as being high quality,” Zaslav said, adding he thinks that provides it opportunity for real growth, as well as economics over time. “We’re starting to be seen in a meaningful way known with HBO Max as a brand, and that acceleration is beginning.”
JB Perrette, president and CEO of Global Streaming & Games at WBD, also said data points are partly helping to inform in terms of what it’s seen in Australia this year, where Warner Bros. content has been available either via a distributor or licensee for multiple years.
“We know the success of the content in those markets. We’ve seen it,” Perrette said. “We have the data on the performance and that’s partly what gives us high confidence, particularly in these three big European markets, UK, Germany and Italy, of what the content can do once it comes out of those license agreements and into our standalone HBO max service.”
During Q2 earnings WBD had commented on content licensing practices, saying it would continue to further focus on licensing in-house, keeping top content for itself versus licensing out to third parties.
At its core, content is the HBO Max product and Perrette said “we feel better than every about quality” as it relates to the upcoming 2026 slate and into 2027 – which includes the start of its 10-year plan for the Harry Potter franchise – both in terms of performance and more volume of U.S.-originated and local original productions in select markets.
In May WBD also reversed course on an earlier decision to drop the iconic HBO brand and returned the well-known name to its flagship streamer.
And as plenty of options for content abound, Perrette cited growing satisfaction with where HBO Max has landed over the past 1-2 years in making content quality the differentiating factor of its product.
“It’s really starting to resonate” he said, noting that hit shows the company has been producing have numbers “growing not only in absolutes, but also week-to-week” this year, such as The Pitt, The Last of Us and original mini-series Task. After debuting in early September, Task has averaged 12 million viewers per episode. In late October, IT: Welcome to Derry premiered and ranked as one of HBO Max’s all-time best, with the first episode drawing 15 million viewers in its first week.
As for global growth, WBD already has some relationships in place to reach that 150 million subscriber figure, where Perrette noted “a bunch of those” come via established partnerships.
“So we have good visibility towards both revenue and the scaling of subscribers in that time, and we can’t wait to get after it,” he said. “2026 should be for us the biggest year of growth that we’ve seen in a long time for HBO Max.”
That said, what WBD will look like down the line – or if it has new owners - is still uncertain as the company is evaluating a potential sale of parts or all of its business (with Netflix and Comcast and others among parties reportedly interested), as well as the earlier planned split of linear networks from its studio and streaming businesses into a standalone entity.
On the earnings call, Zaslav acknowledged there have been media reports regarding potential interested parties, but declined to comment on specifics, adding “it’s fair to say that we have an active process underway.”
In Q3 WBD’s studios business marked 24% year-over-year revenue growth to $3.3 billion, on the back of theatrical revenue gains due to higher content licensing and more box office revenue with Superman, The Conjuring: Last Rites and Weapons in the quarter, as well as carry-over from the F1 release in Q2.
However, WBD’s global linear networks continued to be challenged, with revenue declining 22% year-over-year to $3.88 billion. Total Q3 revenues of $9.05 billion were down 6% year-over-year. Total Q3 Adjusted EBITDA of $2.47 billion was up 2% yoy.