![]() Zaslav has championed the value of the traditional pay-TV bundle while criticizing the previous WarnerMedia regime's profligate spending on streaming. The media industry knows streaming is the future but growth has slowed. What's happening now is, at its core, a hedge. Investors turned on the narrative of pursuing streaming growth at all costs last year, cutting the valuations of many media and entertainment companies in half. It's a delicate balance: Disney, Paramount Global, Comcast 's NBCUniversal and even Netflix are all battling the same forces. It's more important for him to make money than to compete with Disney and Netflix to become the world's largest streamer. Discovery is building Max as a one-size-fits-all option so that it has the scale to stick around in a post-cable world that's coming increasingly quickly.īut Zaslav is also telling investors he's fine with limiting Max's growth. Zaslav said Wednesday he'd have more details on that "in the coming months." Don't forget, Zaslav killed off CNN+ as a standalone streaming option last year just about a month into its existence. Instead, the company loaded up one service with everything it has, which may also eventually include some news from CNN and sports such as NBA or NHL games. That's been Disney's strategy, which offers bundled ways to mix and match Hulu, ESPN+ and Disney+. For those customers who wanted both Discovery+ and HBO Max, it could have offered a bundle for a discounted price. Discovery could have kept HBO Max around, too. Discovery's free ad-supported service, which the company has said is coming later this year. Perrette said the company doesn't "want to leave any of its profitable subscribers behind." The company is keeping Discovery+ around for customers who are happy to pay $5 or $7 for just Discovery's programming. With its new streaming strategy - and Max at the center - Warner Bros. "We are relentlessly focused on creating great content and monetizing in every way possible," he said. And some of the stuff they're not watching, we can put it on a free AVOD platform, and some of the stuff that they're not watching, we can keep it nonexclusively on Max, but we could also sell it to others." "We take a look at what people watch on Max and we can see exactly what they like and exactly what they don't. "I'd rather have 100 million subscribers or 150 million subscribers and have it be really profitable than try and stretch for some big number, and in the end, lose money," Zaslav told CNBC's Julia Boorstin after the presentation Wednesday. But according to Zaslav, that's no longer the priority. That was every media company's goal when Zaslav agreed to merge Discovery with WarnerMedia in 2021. Discovery's stated goal was to maximize (no pun intended) the number of subscribers who sign up for Max. This would be the end of the story if Warner Bros. Streaming is entering its "teenage" years, Perrette said, and Max as a name makes more sense to keep adding subscribers globally in a lower-growth world. Those who want HBO already know where to find it, and HBO Max will simply morph into Max on most platforms. Now, about 80 million subscribers later, that point is less important. When HBO Max initially launched, AT&T and WarnerMedia executives emphasized to subscribers that this new app was, first and foremost, the home of HBO. HBO fans won't unsubscribe from the service in response to the name Max, but some people who were scared off by HBO may now sign up once the adult brand has been obscured by the deluge of distinctly un-HBO content coming to the service. HBO appeals to a certain audience, but also doesn't appeal to a certain audience. By doing so, we'll better elevate and showcase our unparalleled array of other content and brands that will be key to broadening the appeal to this enhanced product." "We will not push it to the breaking point by forcing it to take on the full breadth of this new content proposition had we kept the name in the service brand. It needs to stay that way," Perrette said at the event. Pimple Popper," "90 Day Fiance" and various HGTV shows that more readily serve as background TV than fare for office water-cooler conversation. They also felt the HBO brand could be diluted by the flood of Discovery's reality TV programming set to join the platform, such as "Dr. Discovery executives felt the name HBO actually limited the audience for the streaming service because it scared away potential audiences. Personal Loans for 670 Credit Score or Lower ![]() Personal Loans for 580 Credit Score or Lower Best Debt Consolidation Loans for Bad Credit
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