CuriosityStream subs up 80%
May 13, 2021
By Chris Forrester
The all-factual OTT service CuriosityStream, backed by Discovery’s founder John Hendricks, has reported subscription growth of 80 per cent year-on-year, and that it has bought One Day University.
One Day University features over 500 unique talks and lectures from the best professors from over 150 colleges and universities in the US.
Revenue in the first quarter grew 33 per cent year-over-year to $9.9 million driven by continued strength in CuriosityStream’s direct subscription revenue. “With over $178 million of cash and investments on our balance sheet at the end of the quarter, we are in an excellent position to invest in growth,” said CEO Clint Stinchcomb.
He added: “We continue to invest in the distinct content that defines us nature, history, science, travel in every category in the factual genre. We will offer more new originals this year than any time in our history. We’re exploring all options to expand a library that is already unrivalled, and goes deeper than anyone into the topics our viewers already care about or have yet to discover. CuriosityStream’s Q1’21 revenues grew 33 per cent to $9.9 million from $7.5 million in Q1 of 2020. This was led by direct-to-consumer, partner direct and higher programme sales.”
“We are on track with our plans for 2021 to deliver $71 million in revenue with over 90 per cent of our 2021 revenue committed to date, up from 80 per cent at the end of last year. We continue to expect an outsize second half of the year as our new lines of business such as programme sales and sponsorships ramp up and we pursue additional business development opportunities such as One Day University deal we announced today,” according to CFO Jason Eustace.
Stinchcomb told analysts that CuriosityStream was experimenting with different pricing plans.
“We are testing some premium tier options, where we’re providing the people, additional features and benefits and even additional content for those people that subscribe to our premium tier, which we previously referred to as our 4K tier. So I think over the next few months, you’ll see just some interesting things there,” he advised.