Warner Bros. Discovery finally revealed its plans for its two current hefty streaming platforms, HBO Max and Discovery+, at the company’s first earnings call, according to Deadline. The previously announced single streaming service will be coming in Summer 2023 to the United States; globally, the service will arrive later that year in Latin America and Europe and Asian Pacific territories by 2024.
“There’s much work to be done over the coming months,” JB Perrette, CEO and President of Global Streaming and Interactive, told to advertisers and press today, via Deadline. “There’s lots to do, we’re determined to get it right, which will take a bit of time.” As the newly-minted company continues to strategize the streamer’s eventual launch, its focus is to capture 40M additional subscribers by 2025. Achieving this goal would bring their global total to 130M.
While HBO Max has become synonymous with its robust prestige TV offerings and fanatic franchises such as Harry Potter and DC Comics, Discovery+’s multiple properties have been described, per Deadline, as “comfort viewing” according to Perrette. Some of the most popular titles, as listed by Vulture, include 90 Day Fiancé and its several spinoffs; the true crime series Forensic Files and American Detective With Lt. Joe Kenda from the ID Channel; and, popular Food Network offerings such as Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmerman and Guy Fieri’s Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and Guy’s Grocery Games.
Along with the news of the merging streaming platforms, The Hollywood Reporter detailed that WBD will explore offering a free ad-version of the streamer once the paid streamer has established a wealth of subscribers. The company seeks to diversify its streaming options now that the industry knows the medium is not the all-profit-behemoth it was early on.
“Our streaming strategy has evolved over the last year, and reflects the importance of, rather than the dependence on [streaming],” CEO David Zaslav stated via The Hollywood Reporter.
As news of the earnings call spread yesterday, rumors and whispers of a total collapse of HBO Max rang across social media. According to Deadline, WBD aims to not only keep HBO and HBO Max content afloat but plans to double its support of Chief Content Officer Casey Bloys and the HBO Max team.
“There was some buzz today about HBO Max [that] we’re going to start doing less series and our strategy is to embrace and support and then drive the incredible success that HBO Max is having,” WBD CEO David Zaslav said according to Deadline. “It’s really to the culture and the taste of Casey and the team and the fact that they not only read the scripts, but they fight with all the creatives to make the content and storytelling as strong as possible. It’s at a very unique moment. We think it’s an extraordinary asset, an extraordinary advantage,” Zaslav added.
While those words sound reassuring, the fear of the streaming service going silent was valid as troves of content across WarnerMedia’s entertainment landscape, both streaming and linear, have disappeared. Since the two entities officially merged in April, TV viewers and fans have witnessed several cancellations at the CW, the end of original scripted content on TNT and TBS, and even this week’s announcement to completely shelve the DC Comics film, Batgirl.
In addition to the shift from direct-to-consumer films, Deadline reports the merged streamer will be without lot of family-focused programming and animated kid fare. Live-action family programming, such as the recently canceled Gordita Chronicles, will not be the focus in the future. And animation will also see itself less and less across streaming and linear programming. This is evident in the recent canceling of Little Ellen before its third season premiere.
More gradual changes are occurring currently on both platforms. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the company announced earlier today that content from The Magnolia Network, Chip and Joanna Gaines’ DIY channel, would transfer from Dsicovery+ to HBO Max on September 30. In return, HBO Max will trade CNN Originals to its sister streaming platform. The streamer has also quietly removed several original feature films and legacy series from its catalog including rock music period drama, Vinyl, and Kathryn Hahn’s (Marvel’s WandaVision, I Know This Much Is True) Mrs. Fletcher.