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Tag: Discovery Plus

  • HBO Max and Discovery+ Merger May Simply be Named “Max”

    HBO Max and Discovery+ Merger May Simply be Named “Max”

    You read that title correctly, but it seems a name has potentially been found for the merging of two streaming giants. If you’ve questioned Warner Bros. Discovery’ overall direction since CEO David Zaslav took over, it seems that their plans to simply title the merger of HBO Max and Discovery+ “Max” is a curious choice. The plans are to launch it in the near future, but there are still many questions on what their focus is moving forward.

    HBO Max and Discovery+ were infamously compared with very distinct focus groups, and the Discovery head has no interest to truly invest into creatives if there’s no clear return on investment. AS such, his main focus with streaming will be to push cheap content that can draw in a massive crowd. So, reality TV is definiteley on their radar, such as when they shared with pride their 90 Day Fiance Universe tagline during an earnings call after the merger.

    The source from CNBC has pointed that the company’s lawyer is currently vetting the name, which isn’t the definite name as of now. They may have other ideas on the table, but it’s surprisng they aren’t trying to bank on the Warner Bros. brand if they are moving away from HBO. Supposedly, they are taking inspiration from Disney+’s design with brand focused sections. It will be interesting if they keep some of the elements alive from the original streaming services, especially with HBO Max being among the most visually stunning.

    Source: CNBC

  • HBO Max to Merge With Discovery+ by Summer 2023

    HBO Max to Merge With Discovery+ by Summer 2023

    A major bit of news in the age of streaming has come to be during the Warner Bros. Discovery earnings call. JB Perrette, the CEO and President of Global Streaming and Interactive at Warner Bros. Discovery announced that HBO Max and Discovery+ are set to be combined into a singular streaming service in the US next summer. On the earnings call, Perrette discussed the plans for rolling out this new operation.

    Our primary focus for the rollout will be in the markets where HBO Max has already launched. We plan to launch the service sequentially starting in the U.S. next summer. Latin America will follow later in the year. European markets with HBO Max will follow in early ‘24, with additional launches and key Asia Pacific territories and some new European markets coming later in 2024. There’s much work to be done over the coming months. There’s lots to do, we’re determined to get it right, which will take a bit of time.

    JB Perrette

    JB Perrette also spent time discussing the rationale for this decision, with the more appointment viewing experience of HBO Max and the comfortable viewing experience of Discovery+ being more strongly served on a singular platform.

    These are two critical and powerful components of a strong and sustainable subscription business. Coupled with our world-class collection of globally recognized brands, franchises and characters, it is truly an unprecedented combination in an already crowded market.

    JB Perrette

    The news of this radical shift from Warner Bros. Discovery is coming off the heels of an already loud week from the company in terms of shuttering projects. This includes the cancelations of Batgirl and the sequel to Scoob, despite them being well into the post-production process. It remains to be seen how much more will be altered in this new status quo from David Zaslav’s newly minted regime at the Hollywood stalwart.

    Source: Deadline

  • Robert Downey Jr. Working on New Discovery+ Series Turning Muscle Cars Eco-Friendly

    Robert Downey Jr. Working on New Discovery+ Series Turning Muscle Cars Eco-Friendly

    Robert Downey Jr. is about to revisit his Tony Stark era in a new and creative way. He is working on a new unscripted series where he turns sports and muscle cars into eco-friendly variants for the 21st century. This makes his second Discovery+ series currently being worked on under the title Downey’s Dream Cars.

    They may change the title, but Team Downey is involved with the project, which is Robert and Susan Downey‘s production banner. They are working with Boat Rocker’s Matador Content with the series eyeing a release later this year on Discovery+, which will not yet fuse with HBO Max after the Warner Bros. Discovery merger. He made the following statement on it:

    My goal is to showcase that it’s possible to keep the integrity of classic cars while leveraging new tech and innovation to make them more eco-friendly. I’m thrilled audiences will get to see this series on Discovery+ later this year.

    Robert Downey Jr.

    This project marks the second one alongside the four-part documentary series The Bond. Downey’s Dream Cars is a passion project for the former Avengers: Endgame star, as he tries to bring these cars into the modern eco-friendly age. It’s great to see the star combine his passion with a new project, which has generally become a new trend as stars have entered reality TV productions to explore hobbies in a new way through their production banners.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • Warner Bros. Discovery to Combine HBO Max and Discovery+

    Warner Bros. Discovery to Combine HBO Max and Discovery+

    It was only a question of time, but the official announcement has finally arrived. As Warner Bros. Discovery is about to be created when the AT&T merger finalizes with Warner Media, it seems that HBO Max and Discovery+ will be fused into one service rather than Disney’s multi-platform bundle strategy. Gunnar Wiedenfels, who will be the CFO of Warner Bros. Discovery, shared the following insights into their approach during the Deutsche Gank 30th Annual Media Internet & Telecom Conference:

    One of the most important items here is that we believe in a combined product as opposed to a bundle… We believe that the breadth and depth of this content offering is going to be a phenomenal consumer value proposition

    Gunnar Wiedenfels

    He also highlighted why they aren’t rushing this concept and want to give it some time to figure out how best to approach it.

    The direct-to-consumer business is obviously further along now than what we had four years ago. There’s a greater risk, you want to get that right. Between the two direct-to-consumer products, by the time we close, close to 100 million people are going to be affected as we make those changes. So that will need some very, very detailed and disciplined planning

    Gunnar Wiedensfels

    This change won’t happen overnight, so bundling will still be available early on as they try to figure out how to merge the platforms. It’s unclear if they’ll stick to the HBO Max or Discovery+ branding, as they may take a different approach. The services are currently available with an ad-supported and ad-free variant that is priced differently. So, we might have to wait for some time before we get a clearer vision of

    what the streaming future has in store for HBO Max and Discovery+.

    Source: Variety