Warner Bros. Discovery Confirms Plans to Cut More Kids and Family Content

Warner Bros. Discovery is going to keep cutting back its budget in certain areas, in an effort to reform its streaming distribution strategy moving forward. HBO Max and discovery+ are eventually going to be merged, and Warner Bros. Discovery is molding its streaming offerings into a new vision before that happens. That means no big budget streaming exclusive films, like Batgirl, and it also means a lot less kids and family content.

HBO Max recently cancelled the coming-of-age series Gordita Chronicles, and that was just the start of a wider move away from its kids and family pipeline. One of the cancelled films, Scoob!: Holiday Haunt, was also aimed at younger audiences, and that was followed the cancellation of Little Ellen. Thursday’s Warner Bros. Discovery investor call saw the company confirm that tough choices with that type of programming will continue to be made.

Gunner Widenfels, Warner Bros. Discovery’s CFO, said during Thursday’s call that kids and animation titles, both on streaming and traditional platforms, could be axed “without an adequate investment case against them.”

For now, there’s no way to know exactly what types of family and animation content is being most heavily targeted. There is obviously concern that this could also extend to adult animation like Harley Quinn and the Adult Swim shows.

“Live-action kids and family programming will not be part of our programming focus in the immediate future, and as a result, we’ve had to make the very difficult decision to end Gordita Chronicles at HBO Max,” Warner Bros. Discovery said in a statement when Gordita Chronicles was cancelled. “The series earned critical acclaim and a loyal following, and we are proud to have worked with creator Claudia Forestieri and our two powerhouse executive producers, Eva Longoria (who also masterfully directed the pilot) and Zoe Saldana, to bring Cucu’s journey to the screen. We thank them and the talented cast and crew for creating such a heartfelt, groundbreaking show that connected deeply with a very important demographic.”

A lot of changes are coming to HBO Max and the rest of Warner Bros. Discovery’s entertainment brands over the next year or two as the company continues restructuring under its new leadership.