Advanced Television

Data: HBO Max reaches 1.5m UK subs in first 5 days

April 9, 2026

HBO Max reached 1.5 million UK subscribers within its first five days after launching on March 26th, based on scaled estimates of sign-ups and service activations from Ampere Analysis’s SVoD Economics dataset.

This initial surge reflects strong early adoption, with further significant growth expected beyond this period, particularly driven by TNT Sports content on HBO Max, including major UEFA football fixtures in early April. This strong start places HBO Max on track to reach Ampere’s forecast of six million activated subscribers in the UK by the end of 2026, making it the fourth-largest streaming service in the UK.

Historically, Sky held exclusive rights to HBO content and portions of Warner’s movie library in the UK and Ireland. While that exclusivity has now ended, Sky remains a key partner.

Additional key findings:

  • Sky is central to early HBO Max sign-ups: 77 per cent of HBO Max activations are from existing Sky or NOW households, highlighting the importance of Sky’s customer base in HBO Max’s early adoption.
  • Sky’s model supports retention: Sky’s longer-term contracts (typically around 24 months) help reduce churn for partner services. This is particularly relevant in a market where around half of UK streaming subscribers who signed up in Q1 2025 had churned within a year.
  • Switching is mainly from competitors: 12 per cent of HBO Max subscribers cancelled at least one service in March prior to signing up. Where there was switching, it was mostly from streaming competitors rather than Sky and NOW:
    • Disney+ (36 per cent) and Prime Video (17 per cent) account for the largest share of switching.
    • Comparatively low switching from NOW (4 per cent) suggests NOW Entertainment’s bundling is successfully retaining its base, at least in the short term.
  • HBO Max is being added to existing subscriptions: New HBO Max customers are also taking Paramount+ (68 per cent), Netflix (68 per cent), Discovery+ (53 per cent), Disney+ (46 per cent), and Sky Sports (32 per cent).
Mayssa Jamil, Senior Analyst at Ampere Analysis, commented: “HBO Max is experiencing strong early uptake, with most users adding it to their existing mix of streaming services rather than replacing other subscriptions. Switching activity remains relatively limited, suggesting this is largely incremental growth rather than substitution. At the same time, Sky’s bundling strategy is reinforcing its continued role as a key distribution partner and is serving as a template for how pay TV operators can stabilise their customer bases in an era of cord cutting.”

Categories: Consumer Behaviour, Headline, Markets, Premium, Research, VOD

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