“Human sacrifice. Dogs and cats living together. Mass hysteria!”
Two of the biggest studios in the world are teaming up in an effort to wring maximum profitability out of their respective direct-to-consumer platforms.
Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery are set to launch a new streaming bundle this summer that will combine the Disney+, Hulu, and Max streaming services. Specific pricing is still to be determined, but there will be both ad-free and ad-supported options of the bundle.
“On the heels of the very successful launch of Hulu on Disney+, this new bundle with Max will offer subscribers even more choice and value,” said Joe Earley, president of direct to consumer for Disney Entertainment. “This incredible new partnership puts subscribers first, giving them access to blockbuster films, originals, and three massive libraries featuring the very best brands and entertainment in streaming today.”
“This new offering delivers for consumers the greatest collection of entertainment for the best value in streaming, and will help drive incremental subscribers and much stronger retention,” added JB Perrette, CEO and president of global streaming and games for Warner Bros. Discovery. “Offering this unprecedented entertainment value for fans across all the complementary genres these three services offer, presents a powerful new roadmap for the future of the industry.”
The service will include content from the likes of ABC, CNN, Discovery, Disney, FX, HBO, HGTV, Hulu, Pixar, Searchlight, and, of course, Marvel and DC-based programming. So, basically... similar to the days of traditional cable TV!
Both companies are expected to present their programming wares to media buyers and advertisers next week.
In related (and likely pertinent) news, Warner Bros. Discovery reported its first-quarter 2024 earnings today, revealing that it had reached 99.6 million paid streaming subscribers. While this represents growth of nearly 2 million subscribers across HBO and streamers Max and Discovery+ since the end of 2023, the company's overall net loss for the first quarter of 2024 was $966 million.
“We are pleased with our progress in the first quarter as evidenced by strong results in important KPIs,” CEO David Zaslav said in a letter to shareholders. “We delivered meaningful growth in our streaming business with a nice acceleration in ad sales, generating nearly $90 million in positive EBITDA for the quarter. We will soon be rolling out Max to 29 countries across Europe, and the content lineup for Max over the coming year is one of our strongest ever."
What do you make of Disney and WBD joining forces for this new streaming venture? Do you plan on availing of the service? Drop us a comment down below.