The company has stated that Discovery Plus will remain as an economical option for consumers, but they will still launch a combined service that features content from both HBO Max and Discovery.
Warner Bros. Discovery may be changing their stance regarding the merging of their HBO Max and Discovery Plus streaming services into one direct-to-consumer offering.
As reported by The Wall Street Journal, WBD, which is burdened with debt, now intends to maintain Discovery Plus as a separate service.
The firm had previously indicated that they intended to merge the two offerings under a single name, Max. Upon the leaked information, the stock of Warner Bros. Discovery experienced a rise, as the market favored the prospect of the combination taking place earlier than previously anticipated, possibly in the spring.
The original plan was to bring together the two services in order to offer a wider range of programming and increased size to compete with other major players in the streaming industry such as Netflix and The Walt Disney Company.
However, the strategy has since shifted. The executives at Warner Bros. Discovery reportedly became worried that many of the 20 million profitable Discovery Plus subscribers would cancel their subscriptions if the price for the combined service was higher. This information was reported by The Wall Street Journal.
According to the revised plan, some of the content from Discovery Plus will also be accessible on Max, including popular programs such as Shark Week and content from Magnolia Network, the partnership between the company and Chip and Joanna Gaines.
A representative from Warner Bros. Discovery confirmed that Discovery Plus would still be available to consumers as an affordable option. The service will retain its connection to its dedicated fanbase and serve as a source for marketing and data collection.
The representative stated that the company’s plan remains unchanged and that they are still proceeding with the launch of a larger-scale offering that combines the content of HBO Max with the majority of the offerings on Discovery Plus.
In an effort to cut costs, Warner Bros. Discovery has relocated some of its content away from HBO Max. This move allows the company to take write-offs on the content and reduce the payments made to the creators of the shows.
Some of this content is being utilized to establish free, advertisement-supported streaming television networks in partnership with Roku and Tubi.
Source: Next TV
