By Michaela Gordoni
Warner Bros. Discovery’s television viewership jumped by 3% from February to March, thanks to the NCAA’s March Madness and Max streaming growth.
Max had the largest month-over-month streaming growth at 6%. This was primarily driven by increased views of WHITE LOTUS and THE PITT, Nielsen reported this month.
YouTube also rose in ranks, as it captured 12% of overall March TV viewing. This is its second month in a row as the top media distributor. Disney accounted for 10.5% of all TV viewing, due in part to AMERICAN IDOL, ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT and its simulcast of THE OSCARS, which had 20.3 million viewers across ABC and Hulu.
Paramount Global came in third place after Disney with an 8.5% share of TV. It also benefited from March Madness, as well as TRACKER and MATLOCK, which had over 9 million viewers each. TRACKER made up for five of the top 10 broadcast telecasts in March, each with over 10 million viewers.
At Deloitte’s Media & Telecoms 2024 and Beyond Conference, Andrew Georgiou, president and managing director of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) U.K. & Ireland and WBD Sports Europe, revealed that bundles, like it has with Max, Disney+ and Hulu, are the way the company will grow.
It’s about “how do we get to a scaled global streaming business that is profitable,” he said, adding that WBD has “a high degree of confidence” in its profit planning.
He also remarked that subscribers are frequently changing their services.
“That phenomenon in the U.K. and other markets is a huge cost of business, and reducing that churn, increasing engagement and reducing the cost of winback is something that we all need,” he said.
Related: Fubo CEO Calls Fox-Disney-WBD Sports Bundle ‘Borderline Racketeering’
Last month, WBD announced that Discovery+ will join the “same technical platform” that powers Max. This will give Discovery+ the same capabilities as WBD’s apps to make a better app and video experience.
The new features include an updated homepage and navigation, personalized recommendations, QR code sign-in, mobile social sharing that allows users to share media links via text or social media, and i-player improvements.
Avi Saxena, CTO, Warner Bros. Discovery, said, “A singular unified platform has been central to our technology strategy, and this marks a major milestone in that journey.”
WBD’s stock also jumped up by 5% in February, after it released its Q4 financials, The Average Joe reported.
As WBD strives to keep up with the evolving TV industry, its adaptive approach may keep it ahead in the race for audience attention and allegiance.
Read Next: Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery Announce New Streaming Bundle Plan
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