AMC Networks’ SVOD services pass 2M subscribers

AMC Networks said that its four subscription streaming video services – Acorn TV, Shudder, Sundance Now, and UMC (Urban Movie Channel) – now have more than 2 million subscribers combined.

The announcement makes good on CEO Josh Sapan’s comments from earlier this year. In July, he said that through mid-year 2019, AMC’s SVODs had added approximately 400,000 subscribers in aggregate, and that the company was on target to end 2019 “comfortably ahead of 2 million subscribers.”

“AMC Networks continues to lead in the targeted SVOD category. We are building loyal and engaged fan communities around our growing services and our momentum affirms our strategy of super serving distinct premium audiences,” said Sapan in a statement. “From a financial perspective, our offerings are efficient and attractive, with a large addressable market. We spend much less on programming and marketing than the general entertainment streaming services, and we are able to achieve scale at much lower subscriber levels. As a result, our subscribers have very attractive long-term values.”

RELATED: AMC Networks says it will have 5M to 7M streaming subscribers by 2024

During AMC Networks’ second-quarter earnings call last summer, Sapan said that AMC Networks’ cumulative streaming subscriber total will be between 3.5 million and 4 million by 2022, and between 5 million and 7 million by 2024. The company also expects more than half a billion dollars in revenue by 2024 from its four SVODs.

AMC’s subscription video services are all niche in their programming strategies. Sapan said that as these services reach “sufficient scale,” AMC Networks has been increasingly adding more original content to the lineups, which he said has been resonating with subscribers.

“Given the genetics of our SVOD services, we have the ability to target and retain subscribers…with radically more efficiency than mainstream SVOD services that are pursuing broad general interest audiences that often experience, as we all know, people coming in and out for an individual show or series,” Sapan said.