Peacock & Max Lead Q3 U.S. Subscriber Gains

The number of subscribers to the leading 29 video services in the U.S. grew by 7 percent in Q3 to 406.9 million, per S&P Global Market Intelligence, with Peacock Premium and Max seeing the strongest annual growth rates.

Peacock Premium saw its base rise by 28.2 percent, while Max was up 23.2 percent. Netflix, Disney+ and Paramount+ also posted solid subs growth in the period, S&P indicates. Meanwhile, amid double-digit gains for streaming services, there were significant losses for traditional video providers. New bundles and hybrid plans could help pay-TV operators mitigate those losses.

Netflix remains the leading service with 76.1 million U.S. subscribers in Q3, followed by Hulu with 52 million, Disney+ with 50.2 million, Paramount+ with 37.2 million, Peacock Premium with 37.2 million and Max with 33.7 million.

Sports, with the return of NCAA and NFL football, helped virtual MVPDs add about 1.6 million net new subs in Q3, led by YouTube TV.