Roger Fingas
WarnerMedia on Tuesday revealed a long-promised streaming service as HBO Max, which while including HBO shows will go beyond them to offer content from a variety of Warner brands.
Names on the table include Warner Bros., New Line, DC Entertainment, CNN, TNT, TBS, truTV, The CW, Turner Classic Movies, Cartoon Network/Adult Swim, Crunchyroll, Rooster Teeth, and Looney Tunes, CNBC said. Max will also feature original shows that have yet to be announced.
Critically for some viewers, the service will become the exclusive home of the 1990s sitcom "Friends." Netflix paid $80 million to keep the show on its service through 2019, but those rights will transfer when HBO Max launches in spring 2020. Other confirmed shows include "Batwoman," "Pretty Little Liars," and "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air."
Prices for the service are not yet public. HBO Now, however, is already $14.99 per month.
The news ramps up the challenge for Apple TV+, launching this fall. That service will already be competing against streaming heavyweights like Netflix, Disney+, and Amazon Prime Video, and it's not yet clear if Apple plans to offer any third-party movies or shows.
Without that the company may have trouble attracting subscribers, though senior VP Eddy Cue has claimed that it's working on "creating the best" content rather than "creating the most."
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8 Comments
Apple is completely delusional or just don’t plan on being a serious contender in original content. Anybody remembers Carpool Karaoke…???
Did Warner give any indication where this new service will be available? Is it exclusive to the United States?
Sounds like a potentially expensive offering that will have a hard time gaining traction. Of course, the devil is in the details and the biggest question is how much will it cost. Many such services vying for consumers to agree to significant monthly fees is going to produce more losers than winners. Greed will be the undoing of those seeking a piece of this action. Keep the cost at an attractive point and sheer volume will produce fabulous profits. Pile on the content to up the monthly fee and you run the risk of pricing yourself out of what appears to be developing into a crowded space. It was really straightforward back in the day when Netflix had a ton of content that was more than reasonably priced. Opting for Netflix was, for many, a no-brainer. Now it’s getting tricky.
If content providers are proceeding on the premise that four, five, six services approaching $20 a month each are going to fly, well, that’s a huge miscalculation. Most consumers will simply not buy all-in to such a scenario.