Count this as one of those collective assumptions we didn’t realize wasn’t already officially announced. When AT&T decided to start unloading anything not phone or internet related, many wondered what they would do with WarnerMedia and its world famous Studio and comic label. Well, they unloaded it too. Warner and Discovery (as in Discovery Channel) are merging into Warner Bros. Discovery, and HBO Max and Discovery+ will combine into WarnerDiscovery Plus Max. Okay, that last part is just me being silly.
Jump Start
Discovery’s CFO, Gunnar Wiedenfels, will be maintaining that position for the new Warner Bros. Discovery entity and had this to say about the new service:
“We believe that the breadth and depth of this content offering is going to be a phenomenal consumer value proposition. The question is, in order to get to that point and do it in a way that’s actually a great user experience for our subscribers, that’s going to take some time. Again, that’s nothing that’s going to happen in weeks — hopefully not in years, but in several months — and we will start working on an interim solution in the meantime. So right out of the gate, we’re working on getting the bundling approach ready, maybe a single sign-on, maybe ingesting content into the other product, etc., so that we can start to get some benefits early on. But the main thrust is going to be harmonizing the technology platform. Building one very, very strong combined direct-to-consumer product and platform, that’s going to take a while.”
ALSO SEE: Peacemaker Series Funko Pops Available For Pre-Order
The boldened portion of the comment is a big deal. It takes time to design a new streaming app, combine networks, and roll out marketing. However, it takes no time to upload some videos to an existing service. I could see some HBO or CNN docuseries hitting Discovery+ with HBO Max getting a Discover+ hub.
Content And Costs
To be honest, this is a cool merger. I love educational content and kept satellite TV for years just to have Discovery Network shows, but thanks to Discovery+ I can feed on content like a nerdy glutton. Combine that with the massive library of entertainment from WarnerMedia and you have one hell of a service. One I would be willing to pay $15 a month for. There are no costs being discussed, but I see this pushing $20.
As for cool crossover, Warner houses CNN and they have always done amazing documentaries and docuseries and bringing that to Discovery unlocks a lot of potential. Additionally, HBO’s educational and historical content is top notch. Basically, this new service is a service for the big-brain geeks.
What is your take on HBO Max and Discover+ combining into a single service? Let us know in the comments below!
SOURCE: Discovery CFO (Via Variety)