CuriosityStream reaches 15 million subscribers

CuriosityStream may have increased competition now from the recently launched Discovery+ but the streaming service built some substantial momentum in 2020.

The subscription platform focused on factual content released its full-year financial results and said it grew its subscriber base 50% year over year, from 10 million at the end of 2019 to 15 million at the end of 2020.

CuriosityStream grew its annual revenue to $39.6 million, up from $18 million in 2019, but still recorded a net loss of $38.6 million in 2020, down slightly from the $42.5 million it lost in 2019.

“We had a strong 2020, ending the year with more than double our 2019 revenue with approximately 15 million subscribers,” said CuriosityStream CEO Clint Stinchcomb in a statement. “More recently, we raised approximately $100 million in a follow-on offering completed in February of this year. We enter 2021 with a strong balance sheet, one of the largest libraries of factual content in the world and a world-class team of experienced media executives executing strongly against our plans.”

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In August, the company announced a merger agreement with Software Acquisition Group, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), which lead to CuriosityStream common stock being listed on the NASDAQ exchange under the ticker symbol “CURI.”

CuriosityStream’s full subscriber count comes from across its direct-to-consumer product (priced at $2.99/month or $19.99/year), its deals with traditional linear TV distributors outside the U.S. and its bundled offerings through MSOs like Altice USA, which gives the service to its Optimum and Suddenlink subscribers.

Devin Emery, chief product officer and executive vice president of content strategy at CuriosityStream, said his company is focused on strategy marketing to help grow the subscriber base but admitted that competition like Netflix, Disney+ and Hulu have a lot more resources.

“We’re not focused on how do we spend all of our money to get impressions. We’re focused on how do we find those communities that have the highest proclivity to sign up and watch CuriosityStream content,” Emery said.