What does Warner Bros. Discovery’s $3.42 billion second quarter loss mean for its HBO Max platform?
HBO Max may be losing some of their favorite content next year as impacts of the Discovery Inc. Warner Media merge is implemented.
Movie lovers are growing worried after details of the Warner Brothers and Discovery merger begin to trickle out. The merger became official in April 2022, and changes are already rippling across the former Warner Brothers corporate landscape.
On an investor call last week, those tuning in heard HBO Max would be dissolved into Discovery+ and converted into a new streaming service that caters to a broader audience. HBO Max fans have until mid-2023 to take advantage of their collection of Warner Brother’s classic archive.
Many who followed the Fox Studios and Disney merger are concerned about what will happen to many of the classic Warner Brothers films as those of Fox are not as readily available on Disney+.
This is not the first time Warner Brothers has merged or been taken over by another company. In 2014, when the WB’s parent company Time Warner acquired AT&T, the two were re-named Warner Media. Now, Warner Media has been sold by AT&T to allow for its merger with Discovery Inc.
What shows and films are produced and distributed by Discovery Inc.?
Discovery Inc. has its own complicated history. The company began as a single network: Discovery Channel, which led to various spinoff networks, including Discovery Kids, Discovery Travel & Living, Discovery Civilization, and Science Channel. The company later acquired TLC, HGTV, Animal Planet, and more than a dozen others.
In 2021, Discovery announced it would merge with Warner Media if legally allowed. Some concerns were raised about further consideration of the US media industry, but the federal government allowed the merger.
The new name for the company will be Warner Bros. Discovery, but the name of the streaming service has yet to be released. What we do know is that HBO Max, as its current subscribers currently know it, will be removed from the market.
During the quarterly call with investors last week, DC universe lovers rejoiced when hearing that the new company will create a studio to focus on DC superhero movies –similar to that which produces the film for the Marvel universe franchise.
However, some fans were extremely disappointed to learn that the new Batgirl movie that was already being filmed was cancelled by Warner Brothers.