HBO Max & Discovery+ to merge into new streaming platform
HBO Max will officially merge with the Discovery+ streaming service, Warner Bros. Discovery announced.
President and CEO, David Zaslav, announced that the goal of the merger is to get the best features of both streaming platforms onto one. HBO Max contains a wider variety of content and is skewed towards a more male audience, while Discovery+ utilizes an excellent interface and is skewed towards a more female audience. Together, both services have total of 92 million users, Zaslav said.
The news comes at the heels of a huge loss for the newly-merged company (around 3.5$ billion in Q2) and multiple shelved projects as well as huge layoffs for many many employees. However, high-viewer shows like Euphoria and Succession are definitely safe and will most likely not end of be canceled anytime soon.
The company’s head of global streaming, JB Perrette, said that they are unsure of what the new streaming service will be called but that they are doing research on how consumers perceive potential brand names.
Pricing for the upcoming streaming service was not disclosed but it has been confirmed that subscriptions will include an ad-free and less costly ad-supported plan (or even a free, ad-supported tier to further expand its audience).
The streaming service is set to launch beginning Summer of 2023 in the USA.