HBO Max And Discovery+ May Not Be Merging As Previously Thought
Image Source: CultureSlate
The world of streaming is becoming increasingly complicated as more and more providers enter the market, and viewers are struggling to find their best "bouquet" of movies, series, and documentaries without being forced to reach too deep into their wallets. However, it seems that the streaming providers themselves are also not confident in their past decisions.
In April 2022, Warner Media merged with Discovery Inc., a transaction worth $43 billion, resulting in Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) and bringing the respective tentpole streaming services HBO Max and Discovery+ under a common umbrella. During the August earnings call, J. B. Perrette, the CEO of Discovery Streaming and International, presented the company's plan to merge these two services into one sometime "next summer" (i.e. 2023). This goal was later adjusted to "Spring 2023."
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Now it seems that Warner Bros Discovery has abandoned this plan and Discovery+ will continue to exist as a separate platform. Nonetheless, plans continue to bring "most" (but not all) content of Discovery+ to HBO Max.
One of the reasons behind this decision might be that HBO Max and Discovery+’s content are not quite compatible. While HBO Max (which will probably be rebranded to just "Max" in the coming months) has always focused on prestige premium content (like The Last of Us), Discovery+ is known for its factual programming along with reality shows like 90 Day Fiancé.
Another, probably even more important aspect, is pricing. With a monthly subscription fee of $16 ($10 for the ad-supported tier), HBO Max is already on the higher end of all streaming providers, while Discory+ is available for a relatively modest price of $7 per month ($5 if you are willing to accept ads). So it is reasonable that WBD executives feared that many Discovery+ subscribers, unwilling to pay a substantially higher price for the combined service to get access to content they probably have no interest in, would turn their back on the service altogether.
Though WBD has not revealed separate subscriber numbers for HBO Max and Discovery+, the company has a combined subscription base of 94.4 million as of last September and aims to reach 130 million by 2025. To achieve this goal, it is strengthening its effort in the free, ad-supported realm and recently closed a deal with Roku and Tubi to license several shows from Warner Bros Television and HBO.
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Source(s): Deadline
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