Warner Bros. Discovery UK Boss Says Streaming Has Moved On From “Subscriber Growth At Any Cost” But “Churn” Remains A Problem

Warner Bros. Discovery’s (WBD) boss in the UK has said the streaming industry has moved “smartly” away from a “subscriber growth almost at any cost” approach.

“Scale is important but profitable growth with responsible spending is much more important,” Andrew Georgiou, who was promoted last year, told the Deloitte and Enders Media & Telecoms 2024 and Beyond Conference in London.

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He talked up WBD and others’ commitment to bundling as a way to battle against the issue of subscriber churn, which is having big knock-on impacts on the business.

“Netflix is a mainstay but we are starting to see real SVoD churn, people cycling in and out at an increasing rate,” he added. “That phenomenon is a huge cost to business and reducing that churn, increasing engagement and reducing the cost of ‘winbacks’ is something we all need to focus on.”

He was speaking on a panel after Netflix Co-CEO Greg Peters talked up the streamer’s breadth of content in the UK.

“The bundling opportunity provides better lifetime value,” Georgiou went on to say. “It used to be subscriber growth at any cost but we’ve moved smartly away from that phenomenon. Scale is important but profitable growth with responsible spending is much more important.”

Around the world there are “deeper, more collaborative experiments” in bundling taking place, Georgiou added, pointing to WBD U.S. sports bundles as an example.

He cited major differences between the U.S. and UK that U.S. businesses need to remain cognisant of, saying that 58% of TV is watched on free services in the latter compared to less than 25% in the former.

Chris Bird, who runs Prime Video in the UK and was speaking alongside Georgiou, stressed Amazon’s commitment to bundling, pointing to the potential for customers to subscribe to Discovery+ and other “special interest content.”

He used the session to reiterate Amazon’s commitment to the public broadcasters and “inward investment to support the UK sector” in “challenging” economic times.

Georgiou and Bird also backed the Media Bill, which squeaked through parliament before it was dissolved for the general election. Georgiou said Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer did an “outstanding” job in finding a “balance between commercial and public interest.”

The likes of Disney EMEA boss Jan Koeppen and Sky head Dana Strong are also speaking at the London event.

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