Warner Bros. Discovery announced its plans for the future of HBO Max, confirming that both HBO Max and Discovery+ would be merging with one another to create one giant streaming platform.
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During a second-quarter earnings call, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav announced the move, saying that the new service will launch in the United States in the summer of 2023, with other regions set to follow in 2024. An official name for the service wasn’t given, but it will look to encapsulate everything that both companies currently offer into one big package.
In a statement made during the call, CEO and President of Global Streaming and Interactive JB Perrette noted that the company understands that its current products have shortcomings, but that its focus is now on offering “the best of both” of the streaming platforms alongside “world-class performance.”
Celebrating their many many MANY IPs.#WarnerBrosDiscovery #WarnerBros #WBD #WBDiscovery #HBOMax pic.twitter.com/Io8TulUkg9
— Andy Behbakht (@AndyBehbakht) August 4, 2022
“We recognize that both of our existing products have shortcomings,” said Perrette. “HBO Max has a competitive feature set but has had performance and customer issues. Discovery+ has best-in-class performance and consumer ratings, but more limited features. Our combined service will focus on delivering the best of both market-leading features with world-class performance.”
Alongside the news of the merged platforms, Warner Bros. Discovery seemed to suggest that it would no longer looking to follow the model of releasing items all onto its streaming platforms, with Perrette specifically noting that “In recent years, a strategy has emerged that suggests the video business will be better off collapsing all windows into streaming, overpaying for and over-investing in content, and offering it all at the same time for a low price” before saying that the company did not believe in that strategy.
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Due to the seemingly ongoing fluctuation behind-the-scenes at Warner Bros. Discovery, it’s unclear exactly what the company has planned for many of its biggest named properties, or what it plans to do with various hit series that have been made for them.
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