CuriosityStream, a streaming video service focused on factual content, added 4 million subscribers in the second quarter to reach 20 million total.
The new figure suggests rapid growth for the service, which had 10 million subscribers at the end of 2019 and 15 million at the end of 2020. CuriosityStream’s full subscriber count comes from across its direct-to-consumer product, its deals with traditional linear TV distributors outside the U.S. and its bundled offerings through MSOs like Altice USA.
While CuriosityStream’s subscriber growth accelerates, the company’s revenue growth is much more moderate, up from $12 million in the year-ago quarter to $15.3 million. The company’s net loss also expanded to $8.3 million, compared to a net loss of $4.3 million in the same quarter of 2020.
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“During the quarter, we grew direct subscribers 56% year-over-year while retaining a higher percentage of users who signed up in Q2 2020 than any other streaming service, based on data from ANTENNA,” said CEO Clint Stinchcomb in a statement. “We continue to deliver unprecedented value to our subscribers and partners in the factual category, having recently announced a landmark partnership with SPIEGEL TV, the leading producer and distributor of high-quality factual content for German-speaking audiences. This partnership bolsters our global reach by adding millions of subscribers in Europe, accelerates our growth through the addition of hundreds of hours of German-dubbed programming to our SVOD service, and extends our brand through the introduction of the Curiosity Channel in German-speaking Europe.”
During the CuriosityStream’s earnings call, Stinchcomb said that his company has more MSO bundled subscribers outside the U.S. and more direct-to-consumer subscribers in the U.S.
“That said, we do have direct subscribers in 176 countries today, which I think underscores the attraction of factual content and it also underscores the fact that, with factual content you can -- it’s a little bit easier to control the distribution of a broader scope of rights than say, in the scripted space, for example,” he said, according to a Seeking Alpha transcript.