HBO Max App Had 87,000 Mobile Downloads on First Day
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That doesn’t include subscribers upgrading from HBO Now
HBO Max, WarnerMedia’s new linchpin streaming service, was downloaded on mobile devices 87,000 times on its first day, according to data shared by Sensor Tower on Thursday. That figure falls well short of the 300,000 first-day downloads for Quibi, Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman’s highly scrutinized new streaming service that launched in early April.
Sensor Tower’s data tracked HBO Max’s downloads across both Apple’s App Store and the Google Play app store on Wednesday, its launch day. It’s worth pointing out this does not include downloads from TV streaming devices like Apple TV, where HBO Max will likely see the bulk of its installs. It’s also worth mentioning Sensor Tower’s data did not track active HBO Now subscribers upgrading to HBO Max for no additional charge — another factor that could’ve dented HBO Max’s initial downloads.
HBO did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment on its overall first-day performance.
The new service, which features hit movies like “Joker,” classic HBO shows like “The Sopranos,” and popular network series like “Friends” and “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” did see a 444% increase on the approximately 16,000 daily installs HBO Now tends to get, per Sensor Tower. Both HBO Now and HBO Max, since the former launched in April 2015, have combined for 33 million downloads.
WarnerMedia on Wednesday struck a deal with Comcast, the nation’s largest cable provider, to offer HBO Max to its customers. Major streaming players like Roku and Amazon Fire TV still do not have agreements in place to offer the new service.
HBO Max’s debut comes as multiple other streaming services are looking to win over viewers. Quibi, which specializes in mobile-only episodes that don’t run longer than 10 minutes, has seen its App Store ranking dwindle to number 128 as of Thursday morning. NBCUniversal, meanwhile, is prepping for the full rollout of Peacock, its own new streaming service, this summer — but without the help of the summer Olympics, which was expected to give the service a healthy boost.
For more details on HBO Max’s launch and what it means for HBO overall, click here.
Tim Baysinger contributed to this report.