AMC Networks said Tuesday morning that its four niche streaming video services — Acorn TV, Shudder, Sundance Now and UMC (Urban Movie Channel) — have passed 2 million combined subscribers.
The company did not break down subscriber numbers by service, but in September said that the British TV streaming service Acorn TV had passed 1 million subscribers, implying that the other three services, the horror-centric Shudder, mystery and drama-focused Sundance Now and African American-focused UMC have around a million subscribers combined, if not more.
AMC has made its targeted SVOD services a focal point of its strategy, with CEO Josh Sapan telling investors in October that the addressable market for its niche services is “in excess of 10 million subs for each.”
He added that these services don’t have the same pricing pressure that general entertainment services do, which are pushing their prices ever lower in a bid for market share.
“From a financial perspective, our offerings are efficient and attractive, with a large addressable market,” Sapan said Tuesday. “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.”
