Warner Bros. Discovery had been planning to turn HBO Max and Discovery+ into a single streaming service, but that doesn’t appear to be happening any longer. According to an initial report from The Wall Street Journal that has since been verified by Deadline’s sources, the entertainment giant is now planning to keep Discovery+, a streaming service that includes content from Discovery’s various brands (e.g., Animal Planet, History), as a standalone product over concerns that subscribers may not want to move to a bigger, pricier platform. HBO Max is expected to undergo a rebrand to “Max,” a change meant to better reflect its broad catalog of content.
From a WSJ report (alternate link):
The move comes as Warner Discovery is close to launching a new, yet-to-be named supersized streaming service amid increased competition and in an uncertain economic environment.
Instead of combining HBO Max and Discovery+ in their entirety, the new platform will feature HBO Max content and most Discovery+ content, with Discovery+ remaining available as a stand-alone option, some of the people said.
The decision to keep Discovery+ is part of an effort to avoid risking losing a significant chunk of the app’s 20 million subscribers who might not want to pay the higher price to access that content, according to the people familiar with the matter.
From a Deadline report:
Insiders confirmed the strategic shift with Deadline after it was initially reported by The Wall Street Journal. The WSJ cited unidentified people familiar with the decision, saying they felt Discovery+ subscribers could balk at paying a higher price for a combined service.
The plan now is to continue to have Discovery+ remain available even as a newly rebranded combo service hits the market in the spring. It is widely expected that HBO Max will be renamed Max, reflecting its broader subscriber orientation and ambitions to transcend its premium-cable roots. Pricing is one consideration, especially with consumers responding to inflation and the proliferation of streaming services in recent years. At $16, HBO Max is already at the high end of the market, having recently leapfrogged the most popular tier of Netflix in the U.S.
Discussion (3 replies)
Join Discussion →Who thought bundling socks and salads together is a good idea in the first place?
I think they could've managed to bundle it but Zaslav's team obviously still has no clue about how to manage or design streaming services. I'll give HBO Max credit for the best 1080p video streams as I honestly find it comparable to BD. I also really like how they will offer the option to watch director's cuts for some of my favorite movies in the extra tab as most services don't offer that at all or require an extra search if they have it. Just rewatched Star Trek VI Director's Cut last night on our cheap 4K 75" Hisense.
Disney managed to bundle National Geographic stuff just by giving it its own tab in the top ribbon, the same for Marvel and then Star Wars. I think the works well. HBO could do something similar and does somewhat have it in a clunkier way. Instead of a ribbon at the top, you have to either scroll through everything or go to the sidebar (which also has its quirks). Paramount+ is also similar to this, but worse. I can't say that I like either of these approaches but I really like the top ribbon design.
The bottom line is that HBO Max, Max, Warner Bros. Discovery, or whatever they want to call them, are a mess. I don't believe they need to reinvent the wheel or go back to the drawing board but do need to realize that viewership isn't always about content and pricing but also accessibility. If the platform is a mess people will still be less inclined to want to use it. I do doubt that Zaslav will care though, as long as HBO has at least one hit show per quarter to depend on to fund it. Discovery, however, is likely to experience a slow death until they come back to trying to merge it again, and probably still in some sort of half--- fashion.
I don't seem to mind - Most of Discovery is that reality TV crap
Warner obviously didn't want to lower the price for HBO content, and didn't think the D+ crowd would be willing to pay more to watch Amish Mafia or Canada's Worst Drivers