Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav says that an ad-supported streaming service is still coming out with the company’s branding. The executive had a ton to say with RBC this week. In his multiple comments, he reaffirmed WBD’s quest to get in on the ad-supported streaming game. Paramount’s Pluto TV and Amazon’s Freevee have both become mainstays for a lot of families as costs raised as a result of the pandemic and other global factors. The idea of being able to settle in and watch your favorite shows without laying down $8 a month sounds like a winning plan for a lot of viewers out there. However, setting up the infrastructure for such a service is both expensive and time consuming. So, you probably won’t see whatever Zaslav is hatching before the end of 2022. But, he’s definitely set on having Warner Bros. Discovery branding out in front of a similar product before 2023 is over. At this rate. They’re going to have to get the lead out to beat the rush. Check out what he had to say according to THR‘s reporting right here now.
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Previously, he told investors they had been hatching a new strategy for the company. “We learned what doesn’t work,” Zaslav said. “And this is what doesn’t work for us based on everything that we’ve seen: direct-to-streaming movies. So spending a billion dollars or collapsing a motion picture window into a streaming service. The movies that we launch in theater do significantly better, and launching a 2-hour, 40-minute movie direct to streaming has done nothing for HBO Max in terms of viewership, retention or love of the service.”
Where Will Warner Bros. Discovery Go From Here?
A recent investor call had people talking as Zaslav laid out even more possibilities for the company as they navigate these changes. First stop, focusing on big franchsises. “The DC movies and the Harry Potter movies provided a lot of profits to Warner Bros motion pictures over the last 25 years,” Zaslav began.
“Taking advantage of Sex and the City [with And Just Like That…]. Lord of the Rings — we still have the right to do Lord of the Rings movies,” he added. “You focus on the big movies, the tentpoles that people are going to leave home, leave early from dinner to see… We learned what doesn’t work. And this is what doesn’t work for us based on everything that we’ve seen: direct-to-streaming movies. Or spending a billion dollars or collapsing a motion picture window into a streaming service.”
The CEO continued, “The movies that we launch in theaters do significantly better, and launching a 2-hour, 40-minute movie direct to streaming has done nothing for HBO Max in terms of viewership, retention, or love of the service.”
Would you watch the ad-supported streaming platform? Let us know in the comments down below!
