Last week, we launched Subscriber Views, a new approach to programming measurement that connects Antenna’s market-standard subscriber metrics to actual viewership behavior. Subscriber Views goes beyond ratings to analyze which shows drive sign-ups (Acquisition), which prevent churn (Retention), and how different subscriber cohorts behave on and off a service (Engagement).
For this post, we’re focusing on retention. Antenna evaluates retention by identifying subscribers who view a specific title in a given month and measuring how many remain subscribed at the end of the following month (M+1 retention). We then compare that to the service’s retention benchmark, which is the percentage of all active viewers on a service in a given month who remained subscribed at the end of the following month.
When looking at June 2025 viewership, we observe three different categories of shows that generate outsized retention for the service: shows with deep catalogs that drive regular viewing, shows that benefited from strategic scheduling, and buzzy shows at their season start.
Sesame Street (HBO Max) and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (Disney+) are good examples of deep catalog shows; each has multiple seasons and more than 100 episodes. Antenna estimates that 97% of Subscribers who watched Sesame Street in June 2025 were still subscribed to HBO Max at the end of July 2025, +6pts above the service’s benchmark. 98% of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse viewers were still subscribed to Disney+ at the end of July, +4pts over the benchmark.
With Peacock and Apple TV, we see evidence of strategic scheduling. WWE Money In The Bank 2025 (Peacock) aired live on June 7, 2025. Some 98% of Peacock Subscribers who watched WWE Money In The Bank 2025 in June 2025 were still subscribed at the end of July, +8pts compared to the benchmark. While this was a special event, it was scheduled to coincide with a series of other WWE programming that aired closely behind.
The season finale of The Studio became available on Apple TV on May 21, 2025, and 98% of subscribers who watched The Studio in June were still subscribed at the end of July, +5pts above the benchmark. But Apple TV retained the audience for this breakout hit by immediately following it with bit hit shows in June (Stick) and July (Foundation, Season 3) that appealed to core Apple TV subscribers.
Once a show builds an audience, the buzz of a new season can be effective at driving retention. All 10 episodes of Season 4 of The Bear (Hulu) dropped on June 25, 2025, while Season 3 of And Just Like That…(HBO Max) premiered on May 29, 205, with 12 episodes released weekly. Of Subscribers who watched The Bear in June 2025, 94% remained subscribed by the end of July, exceeding the benchmark by +5pts. For And Just Like That…97% of viewers in June were still subscribed to HBO Max at the end of July, +6pts above the benchmark.
Connecting viewership data with churn data helps shed light on the types of shows and programming strategies that lift subscriber retention.
If you’re interested in learning more about Subscriber Views, let us know – we’d love to talk.
