Plying data to showcase the palpable consumer demand for discounted, partially ad-supported tiers of popular subscription VOD services, 28% of HBO Max subscribers surveyed in April by Hub Research said they take the cheaper $9.99-a-month version of the service.
The response from 1,600 adult U.S. consumers is notable, because HBO Max just launched its discounted tier in June of last year. (It charges $14.99 for the premium ad-free HBO Max experience.)
So in just around 10 months, the option went from zero to being the choice of around 30% of HBO subscribers. Five percent of respondents said they don’t know which iteration of HBO service they have.
The percentage of overall user base taking the cheaper ad-supported option is much higher for services that launched with these options baked in, such as Hulu, Peacock, Paramount Plus and Discovery Plus.
Only 23% of Peacock users say they pay for the $9.99 premium no-ad experience, for example.
The data comes as the two biggest operatives in the SVOD market, Netflix and Disney Plus, are rushing to get to the market with cheaper ad-based service plans.
