HBO Max/Discovery+ Merger

[b4pjoe]

Bookie is pretty good. Airing season 2 right now.

 

[klang]

Next month I plan to try The Pitt.

C.B. Strike returns as well.

 

[Bruce]

I gather you watch a lot of movies. Anything else on Max?

Actually not many movies , more for the series and the live feed of CNN, since I do not have paid Live TV.

Also has all the Discovery owned content, Library and next day, Food Network, Animal Planet, etc.

 

[b4pjoe]

Also has all the Discovery owned content,

Not everything anymore...WBD has started splitting their content between MAX/Discovery+ and Hulu. For example Gold Rush on MAX now only has seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 13, 14, and 15 (current season) while Hulu now has seasons 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12. Plan on them fragmenting their content even more in the future.

 

[Bruce]

Not everything anymore...WBD has started splitting their content between MAX/Discovery+ and Hulu. For example Gold Rush on MAX now only has seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 13, 14, and 15 (current season) while Hulu now has seasons 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12. Plan on them fragmenting their content even more in the future.

They keep selling/licensing their content for pennies on the dollar, because they are desperate for $$$$.

What is the one lesson Netflix has taught us, keep all the content you own under one service, subscribers will come.

Which service has 110 Million subscribers worldwide, which one has 282 Million.

 

[b4pjoe]

What is the one lesson Netflix has taught us, keep all the content you own under one service, subscribers will come.

Well the guy running WBD thinks he is the smartest guy on the planet so pretty sure he will be too stubborn to listen to anyone else or learn from their lessons.

 

[KAB]

I had a no-ad deal (after trying to cancel) for average of $8.50 since last Feb. Would kick back to $17 this month, cancelled without any counter offer this time. So I will wait till there are two or three COMPLETED things I want to see, and just sub for month now and then. Maybey when I cancel the first month/time, they will counter again.

 

[Bruce]

Warner/Discovery's 4th Quarter is out.

Good News-Streaming is up, profits of $409 Million

Bad News, Cable Networks lost another 4% of per sub fees' revenue because of Cord Cutting, along with advertising losing 16%.

How they wish to fix these issues, increasing the per sub fees ( good luck).

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) is urging pay TV providers to pony up higher fees for its cable networks, a move aimed at offsetting a steep decline in subscribers and a faster-than-anticipated collapse in advertising revenue, the company revealed in its Q4 2024 earnings report released today. Facing a shrinking linear TV audience and a battered ad market, WBD is banking on renegotiated affiliate agreements to stabilize its networks segment, even as it braces for continued erosion in the pay TV ecosystem.

The push comes as WBD's networks—home to CNN, TBS, and Discovery Channel—saw a 4% Q4 revenue drop to $4.768 billion, with distribution revenue down 4% (ex-FX) to $2.610 billion amid a 9% subscriber plunge, and advertising revenue tanking 16% (ex-FX) to $1.615 billion due to 28% audience declines and a softening market. Full-year 2024 networks revenue fell 4% (ex-FX) to $20.175 billion, with a $9.1 billion goodwill impairment reflecting linear's fading clout. "The U.S. linear television advertising market has deteriorated faster than we expected," WBD noted, citing "several quarters" of underperformance.

Warner Bros. Discovery Saw Its Streaming Profits Hit $409 Million As Cable TV Revenues Fell 4% | Cord Cutters News

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) released its fourth-quarter and full-year 2024 financial results today, revealing a complex tale of resilience and reckoning as the media giant navigates a rapidly shifting industry landscape. Total Q4 revenues dipped to $10.027 billion, a 1% decline (ex-FX) from...

cordcuttersnews.com

Warner Bros. Discovery Wants You to Pay More For CNN, TNT, TBS, & More to Counter Subscriber and Ad Revenue Declines | Cord Cutters News

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) is urging pay TV providers to pony up higher fees for its cable networks, a move aimed at offsetting a steep decline in subscribers and a faster-than-anticipated collapse in advertising revenue, the company revealed in its Q4 2024 earnings report released today...

cordcuttersnews.com

 

[lakebum431]

Expecting to hit 150M subscribers to Max by end of 2026 (from ~117M at the end of 2024). Looks like mostly international adds.