Warner Bros. Discovery will launch its revamped streaming service resulting from the merger.
HBO Max and Discovery+ earlier than previously planned.
Warner Bros. Discovery announced its plans to merge – in a similar way to what happened with the companies that comprise it – its streaming video services HBO Max and Discovery + into a single large platform by the third quarter of 2023. However, everything seems indicate that the company’s plans will be advanced and this new market competitor will arrive even earlier than expected.
At the company’s last meeting to present its earnings to investors, David Zaslav – president and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery – mentioned that the merger of both streaming services will be launched in the United States during the second quarter of 2023.
The combination of HBO Max and Discovery+
According to the Fierce Wireless portal, the HBO Max and Discovery+ streaming services combined have a base of 94.9 million active users today; most of them being from HBO and HBO Max . This figure includes the 2.8 million new subscribers of which some 2.3 million come from foreign markets.
Along with this combined streaming service, Warner Bros. Discovery plans to launch its own free ad-supported streaming television service (FAST) in 2023. “As a company with the largest library of television and movies in the industry … that allows us to distribute our content in multiple ways,” Zaslav mentioned .
Other Warner Bros. Discovery Focuses
In addition, the company highlighted that it is investing in content at levels never seen before, citing the hiring of James Gunn and Peter Safran as co-presidents and general managers of DC Studios , as reported a few days ago.
At the moment, it is not yet clear what form the combined streaming service between HBO Max and Discovery + will take or what its final name will be. However, Warner Bros. Discovery has recently begun porting content from Discovery+ to HBO Max , with shows like Fixer Upper: The Castle , and, as Zaslav mentioned , becoming one of the top five most-watched shows on the platform. in a few days.