Originally published at: HBO Max might be in a little trouble | Boing Boing
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Adding a dark irony to the phrase “too big to fail,” multiple insiders say Warner Bros. Discovery plans to consolidate the companies’ two biggest streamers, HBO Max and Discover+, a move that many fear will result in significant layoffs and content losses at HBO Max. The merger will also reportedly draw a harder line in the sand between Warner Bros. unscripted and scripted divisions. HBO content chief Casey Bloys is reportedly set to take on a more senior position once consolidation is complete.
What is this a quote from? I see no link or attribution.
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HBOMax should be the slam dunk of streaming services. “The same HBO as before but now you don’t have to also pay for basic cable to get it” should be pretty hard to mess up. For it to fail will be the kind of corporate incompetence that’s used in business school curriculums for a generation.
Peacock should and will die. “Could you pretty please pay us for a thing that’s been free since before your grandma was born?” isn’t going to work.
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Also being the hub for Turner Classic Movies, DC, Cartoon Network, and Studio Ghibli is definitely a plus. Surprisingly they don’t have much in terms of made for HBO films/shows from the early years of the cable network
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Yeah I was understating it by calling it the same HBO as before. It’s actually much better.
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Apparently this:
https://www.yahoo.com/now/future-hbo-max-grows-more-204400904.html
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HBO is an attractive service, they do have some good shows and movies on there but i’m not jazzed about having one more subscription. With my previous apt i got free cable and HBO was part of the bundle, i think i used it once or twice so its wasted on me. But my SO did use to watch their shows, if i got it it’d be mainly for them to use 
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Isn’t that what HBO is doing with Sesame Street?
I’m still a little peeved about that acquisition. Yeah, the episodes eventually make it over to PBS but having to pay a subscription to watch first-run episodes is so counter to the original intent of that show.
And they don’t even use the full-scale set for the street anymore, even though HBO has the deep pockets to do that sort of thing.
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It’s very contrary to the spirit of Sesame Street, which is meant to prioritize education children’s education and giving them easy access to it. That said Sesame Workshop does need to work pretty hard to keep money coming in, and don’t forget that conservatives and Trump’s administration have been hostile to both PBS and Sesame Street for the last 5-6 years. They almost did not get their government funding until literally the last day the window for it to be approved thanks to public pressure. That might’ve played a part in Sesame Workshop taking a deal from HBO for timed exclusive airing rights.
If we want to get mad I think it’s best to get mad at the people trying to defund them and PBS.
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Yes, that’s certainly shameful, but PBS only gets about 15% of its budget from federal funding anyway, so that’s far from the whole story. Sesame Street is able to have a very significant revenue stream from licensing their characters for toys and products. So it’s hard to understand why they weren’t able to avoid selling those broadcast rights to HBO.
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Discovery used to be such a great network. Even when they had some of their early reality shows they were pretty decent, but when they went all in on bad shows with dubious topics i lost all faith in them
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Discovery is chumbox tv. They’re gonna mess up the Golden Content Calf that is HBO so bad, and it honestly makes me sad.
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I see ads for Discovery+ and my reaction has always been “…and this is supposed to entice me how?” And I love the irony of the branding. Discovery used to be an educational network. Now their programming seems to be designed to kill brain cells with maximum efficiency.
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I think the reality is that most people don’t want to buy 10 streaming services… they’re gonna get one or maybe two, and they’re gonna go with the ones with the most content, which is probably Amazon and Disney+ for most people…
If someone were smart enough to let you buy shows from other services, for a fee per series or film, they’d win. I suppose you can do that with Prime, but you still have to wait I think rather than having access to them once they’re out.
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Discovery has BattleBots… Let me watch that and Ghibli and Doctor Who on one subscription/app and I’ll be happy.
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On a related note, I was wondering if the 11th-hour end to the Batgirl film might have been due to a new studio head coming in. Or similar issues, where basically the new team at the top doesn’t want to be embarrassed by a previous regime’s project ending up doing very well.
Turns out that’s likely the case: ‘Batgirl’ Canceled By New Leadership At Warner Bros. Discovery
I expect we can see some further in-flight projects in the DC / HBO / Warner Brothers bucket get the axe. And even some other established projects that are doing okay. Unless they’re doing amazingly well, they’re at risk.
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Hilariously, cable was brought down by the demand to build your own, and now cable’s innumerable replacements provide so many fillers that people would rather build their own components of them.
We use Prime because of the variety of services (even though Bezos, sigh), and put our toes into free trials for the others now and then, but honestly I’m not interested in serial “TV show” commitments, and the movies are pretty abysmal on most services. Prime’s been able to cover the slim needs I have.
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As a connoisseur of the trashy trash garbage of reality TV, Discovery Plus has become one of the go-to places to find mid-tier reality tv shows. These are the ones that have a fairly big followings like 90 Day Finance and all the spin-offs, and lesser known shows that also have followings like Welcome to Plathville, Pig Royalty, Seeking Sister Wife.
There is reality TV on HBO Max, but it is bigger budget. Not necessarily better for society, but better production quality and better editing, like FBoy Island and Finding Magic Mike. And the amazing show Legendary.
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Some great documentaries too, which count as reality TV in another way perhaps.
“The Anarchists” is fascinating, even compelling.
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