With the Game of Thrones set to air this coming week, it’s a new property that is certainly going to help boost HBO and their revenue. According to this piece over at The Hollywood Reporter, HBO is indicating that company is expecting to top $1 billion in international revenue this year, which is up 50% from what it was three years ago. And a good part of that is Game of Thrones, which is now the channels best selling series abroad ever, with episodes getting $2.5 million each, which is 50% more than the Soprano’s international pricing from a few years before.
“We have significantly accelerated our international thrust over the past few years,” said HBO CEO Bill Nelson. “We have broken through at a much, much higher level than in the past, and have found that our programming not only crosses geographical boundaries but cultural ones as well.”
The international market continues to grow in importance across many media markets and HBO is seeing that as a big win for them. Their subscriber rate in the US is essentially a non-growth area, having remained flat at 40 million or thereabouts for the last couple of years. On the international side, it’s reporting that it’s grown to more than 42 million subscribers, which is a significant increase from its 2008 numbers at 28 million. The original programming continues to be the selling point and the company is also indicating that a lot of its subscriber growth is coming because of its streaming service which they’re considering to be an essential and vital part of being a subscriber.
