Warner Bros. executives. Discovery revealed the company’s plans in a broadcast on Thursday, revealing that the new global service will launch in the US in summer 2023, with other markets to follow.
CEO David Zaslav also said that once its new service takes off, the company also plans to launch a free ad-supported streaming service with some of its content, part of a “diverse approach” to streaming.
“Our streaming strategy has evolved over the past year and reflects value, not addiction. [streaming]Zaslav said on the company’s earnings call, adding that the company will launch its free or “fast” service “once our SVOD service is firmly established in the market.”
The streaming service aims to be profitable in the US by 2024 and reach 130 million subscribers by 2025, up from 92 million today.
For now, though, streaming is still a money-loser, with the company reporting a loss of $1.5 billion for the quarter for its streaming division.
Wall Street and the entertainment world are curious about the company’s plans, as it owns and operates two major streaming services, HBO Max and Discovery+. The company has been telegraphing for some time that it intended to hit the market with a major streaming service.
JB Perrette, who runs the company’s broadcast business, explained the plans.
For starters, there will be a service, under a brand, the name has not yet been defined. It will launch in the US in summer 2023, in Latin America later that year, and in Europe and other markets in 2024.
The service will feature the complete “unique and complementary” content libraries from both services, but will use the Discovery+ tech stack, which Perret says has received more positive feedback from users than the HBO Max interface.
He added that the combined service will launch with a “big and loud” marketing campaign aimed at highlighting its vast library of content.
As for the free service, Perrett noted that the company currently licenses much of its content to free AVOD services, but will re-evaluate those agreements.
“There’s a lot of work to be done in the coming months,” Perret said. “We are determined to get it right, which will take some time.”
Earlier on Thursday, WBD revealed that Magnolia Network programming will join HBO Max, while some CNN original programming will join Discovery+. This announcement confirmed the fact that there was no merger between the services.
Perrett said other content may move between services before the combined service launches.
Ultimately, the combined content will be differentiated content.
“In an already crowded market, consumers know and trust these brands to deliver quality,” Perrett said, adding that “in the future, we will continue to invest in healthy content,” albeit at a “more measured pace” than before. plans
To that end, Zaslav said the team “couldn’t find” an affordable model that supports expensive movies like direct-to-consumer. bat girlthat the company killed after principal photography was completed.
Source: Hollywood Reporter
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
