New Streamer from AT&T

[PGage]

AT&T announced Monday plans to spin off its content divisions (e.g. CNN, HBO, TNT, TBS, Warners, etc) and merge them with new acquisitions from Discovery (e.g. Food Network, Animal Planet, etc) to create a new streaming company on a scale to compete with Netflix and Disney (not yet approved by the Feds).

Not clear, at least to me, what this will mean for current HBO Max subscribers. Will a subscription to Max just give access to all this other content? Will they charge even more for subscription to the new (currently unnamed) streaming service? That seems unlikely, as the market is already saturated, and new players have to focus more on market share than maximizing profit.

“Combined, AT&T and Discovery will invest about $20 billion a year in content, executives said in a news conference. Zaslav said the new company, which has not yet been named, boasts 200,000 hours of content across a range of programming genres on “day one,” from sports to blockbuster films and reality shows.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/05/17/att-discovery-hbo-cnn/

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[M-D November]

I'm getting a serious case of streamer whiplash.

Here's what I've inferred from some of the articles I've seen about this story today:

• HBOMax is doing well, but the content isn't varied enough
• Discovery+ sucks on toast*
• Let's create a streaming Voltron to take on Disney+ and Netflix

*OK, that's me editorializing a bit based on my own experience; I got a free month and couldn't find anything compelling enough to get me to re-up, even with 2 youngins' in the house. Folding that content into HBOMax just makes more sense (and ends up being a better value proposition for HBOMax's high cost of entry, assuming you don't get access via your cableco account.  (I never understood why Discovery+ was a stand-alone service anyway.)

[Kevin M.]

On Mon, May 17, 2021 at 9:46 AM M-D November <mdnov...@gmail.com> wrote:

I'm getting a serious case of streamer whiplash.

Here's what I've inferred from some of the articles I've seen about this story today:

• HBOMax is doing well, but the content isn't varied enough
• Discovery+ sucks on toast*

I’ve got Discovery+

It was offered free through my cell phone plan 

Only thing I’ve watched in it is the Planet Earth series 

• Let's create a streaming Voltron to take on Disney+ and Netflix

*OK, that's me editorializing a bit based on my own experience; I got a free month and couldn't find anything compelling enough to get me to re-up, even with 2 youngins' in the house. Folding that content into HBOMax just makes more sense (and ends up being a better value proposition for HBOMax's high cost of entry, assuming you don't get access via your cableco account.  (I never understood why Discovery+ was a stand-alone service anyway.)

On Monday, May 17, 2021 at 9:38:08 AM UTC-4 PGage wrote:

AT&T announced Monday plans to spin off its content divisions (e.g. CNN, HBO, TNT, TBS, Warners, etc) and merge them with new acquisitions from Discovery (e.g. Food Network, Animal Planet, etc) to create a new streaming company on a scale to compete with Netflix and Disney (not yet approved by the Feds).

Not clear, at least to me, what this will mean for current HBO Max subscribers. Will a subscription to Max just give access to all this other content? Will they charge even more for subscription to the new (currently unnamed) streaming service? That seems unlikely, as the market is already saturated, and new players have to focus more on market share than maximizing profit.

“Combined, AT&T and Discovery will invest about $20 billion a year in content, executives said in a news conference. Zaslav said the new company, which has not yet been named, boasts 200,000 hours of content across a range of programming genres on “day one,” from sports to blockbuster films and reality shows.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/05/17/att-discovery-hbo-cnn/

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Kevin M. (RPCV)

[Ben Combee]

Obviously you've not delved into the 30+ seasons of "How It's Made" on
Discovery+. This was reason enough for us to do an ad-free
subscription.

[Bob Jersey]

Delete the Colbert message from your inboxes/Gmail feeds. Fake news. Thanks.  B

[PGage]

I think the plan is also to make content from CNN, TNT and TBS available on the new streamer (appears to me it will not be called HBOMax, but not sure about that).

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[Dave Sikula]

From what I read earlier tonight, apparently part of the (initial) deal is that the HBO Max subs will continue and transfer over.

I'm mostly concerned about TCM, but given the incredibly strong brand loyalty it has, they'd be foolish to mess with that -- and we know media executives are -never- foolish, right?

--Dave Sikula

[Paul Murray]

TCM is the single best reason to subscribe to cable, IMHO. I say that as one who doesn't have cable myself, but whose significant other does.

Every time the ownership changes, I worry that the new owners won't get that, and will screw it up in an attempt to make more money.

I haven't tried HBOMax yet. I'm busy not watching much on the streamers I currently pay for: Hulu (got it for free with Spotify @ full price) and Paramount+ (couldn't resist the 50% off deal, but largely unimpressed so far). I'm reluctant to add another even more expensive one.