But customers have been canceling their pay-TV packages at alarming rates. Media companies want streaming to ultimately replace the lucrative fees the firms have traditionally received by selling their channels to the cable bundle. Discovery’s direct-to-consumer television units - HBO Max, the linear HBO channel and streaming service Discovery+ - lost $1.6 billion in 2022, according to regulatory filings. Discovery and other legacy media companies recognize that, while the future lies in streaming, they are struggling to make their streaming businesses profitable. The makeover is part of an effort to meld HBO’s prestige programming, including “Succession” and “ The White Lotus,” with Discovery’s mainstream fare such as “Property Brothers,” “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives” and “Murder in the Heartland.” And the more that you ask the HBO brand to take on, with more programming, the further it stretches it.” “It was not designed to be for mass audiences. “What I am most concerned about is protecting the HBO brand,” Bloys said. Casey Bloys, chairman and CEO of HBO and Max Content, said the name change should work in HBO’s favor in the long term. ![]() Discovery executives were quick to downplay any concerns that HBO would be diminished by the changes. “The power shifts and the dynamics have changed,” she said. Their focus has long been to entertain mainstream audiences rather than HBO’s affluent coastal crowd. had been running the smaller Discovery, known for populist reality TV fare, Shin said. The shift underscores the fact that the executives who took control of the prized assets last year in the merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery Inc. “HBO was premium cable, and it was always known for having the best talent and the best programming.” “The reason there is so much emotion by this name change is because HBO stands for something much bigger than just HBO Max,” said Eunice Shin, global head of media and entertainment for consulting firm Prophet. The move prompted consternation among the HBO faithful. ![]() The name change, unveiled Wednesday, comes as Chief Executive David Zaslav seeks to broaden the audience for the company’s nearly three-year-old online video service.ĭuring a briefing with reporters, Zaslav and his team said that the HBO name, while one of the premier brands in television, may have unintentionally alienated mainstream audiences. Discovery is stripping “HBO” from the name of its streaming service, which now will simply be called Max, signaling a new era for the company’s digital ambitions.
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