By the numbers: How has HBO fared since Game of Thrones ended?

Game of Thrones was the biggest show in the history of HBO, and plenty thought the network would bottom out after it was over. Let’s check in.

Game of Thrones was the biggest hit in HBO’s history. Over the course of its eight seasons, the show generated $2.2 billion in profit for the network, swept the Emmys year after year after year, and dominated the pop cultural conversation.

When it ended in May of 2019, there were plenty of doomsayers wondering if the network would suffer a mass exodus. Did it happen? Observer collected some of the relevant data. The bottom line is that while there has been a downturn in subscribers, HBO is holding quite steady and doing a good job of filling the gaps. But let’s get into some numbers:

• According to AT&T’s Q3 earnings report, HBO and HBO Max boast 38 million U.S. subscribers between them. The company says that’s an increase of roughly 10% over the first nine months of 2020.

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• According to transaction data from ANTENNA provided to Observer in October, HBO boasted the most-improved annual growth rate among premium SVOD subscriptions with 27% in Q3 versus 11% in Q2, which may have been driven partially by the launch of HBO Max. ANTENNA data also revealed that HBO’s Q3 churn rate this year was more than Netflix, Disney+, and Hulu, but still better than CBS All Access, Starz, Showtime, Peacock and Apple TV+.
• When it comes to U.S. marketshare of premium streaming-video on demand subscriptions in the U.S., HBO has the third largest cut of the pie, behind Netflix (35%) and Hulu (20%). HBO has 9%, which is admittedly a pretty big drop from second place.
• After Game of Thrones, HBO Now lost 16% of its subscribers, per Variety. That’s worse that what happened after season 7, when it lost 7%, but way better than after season 6, when it lost 40%. HBO Now has since been rolled into HBO Max, WarnerMedia’s catch-all streaming service.
• HBO has more estimated active U.S. subscribers than ViacomCBS, Amazon Prime Video, Starz, Apple TV+, AMC+ and Peacock.
• HBO had the most-improved annual growth rate among premium SVOD subscriptions, with 27% in Q3 versus 11% in Q2. The churn rate in 2020 — that is, the rate at which customers stop doing business with a company — was higher than at Netflix, Disney+ and Hulu, but lower than at CBS All Access, Starz, Showtime, Peacock and Apple TV+.

So while subscriptions are down, HBO is far from being in a dire situation, and has done a good job of putting out buzzy shows that get people interested for reasons entirely unrelated to Game of Thrones. Barry, Big Little Lies, Euphoria, and most recently The Undoing have all been ratings hits for the network, while shows like Succession, Watchmen and Lovecraft Country were critical darlings and, in the case of the first two, awards darlings (we’ll see how Lovecraft Country come the 2021 awards season).

Next step for HBO: to see if they can get lightning to strike twice with House of the Dragon, its Game of Thrones prequel. It’s not likely, but hey, why not aim high?

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