HBO Max ceases to exist as a platform and will be merged into Discovery+.
The rumors are true and massive changes are underway for streaming platform HBO Max, CEO David Zaslav announced Thursday during Warner Bros. Discovery’s second-quarter earnings call.
The shelves of several fully completed films, such as Batgirl and Scoob!: Holiday Haunt, has embarrassed the entire film and series industry. A word from Zaslav was anticipated stating something big was about to happen.
Moving forward, HBO Max will merge with Discovery+, uniting more than 90 million subscribers in the streaming wars. But the most important aspect of this announcement was Zaslav’s proposal for a movie production.
During the pandemic, some arguable decisions were made by former WB executives of sending some of their magnificent films directly into streaming. Zaslav said he was absolutely against it, saying that he was fully open to a theatrical release.
The New Outlook of HBO Max at Streaming and Movies by Warner Bros. Discovery
The announcement made by Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav stated, “We have a different view on the wisdom of releasing direct to streaming films. And we have taken some aggressive steps to course correct the previous strategy.
For example, we will fully embrace the attributes as we believe it creates interest and demand provides a great marketing tailwind, and generates word of mouth buzz as films transition to streaming and beyond. When you’re in theaters, the value of the content and the overall viewing experience is elevated. Then when the same content moves to PVOD, and then streaming it is elevated again.”
“As films moved from one window to the next, their overall value is elevated, elevated, elevated. We saw this clearly demonstrated with the Batman and Elvis. With respect to streaming, our main priority right now is launching an integrated SVOD service. There’s been a lot of experimentation in our industry and we are all smarter for it. At Warner Brothers Discovery we believe strongly in the importance of preserving optionality and driving returns to a strategic mix of distribution and windowing options.”
The announcement also explains that HBO Max has abruptly removed at least six movies that were broadcast directly on video-on-demand during the pandemic. Reporters from various media outlets were baffled by the decision, sparking rumors that this eventually became a reality.
HBO Max decides to join forces with WB to compete with other streaming giants such as Netflix and Disney Plus. The decision arises worries amongst everyone as such a change would mean a lot of job cuts at HBO Max in the coming months.
