Warner Bros. Discovery Experimenting With Edited HBO Shows on Cable

In a move described as an "experiment" by Warner Bros. Discovery, Variety brings word that some fan-favorite HBO shows are about to make their cable debut, complete with commercial breaks and edits for content. According to the trade, two Primetime Emmy-winning shows, comedy series Silicon Valley and fantasy-drama True Blood, will air on TBS and TNT respectively starting this weekend. True Blood will kick off with its first episode on Saturday night before airing regularly on Mondays at 10 PM on TNT with Silicon Valley airing Sundays at 10 PM on TBS.

"We have an enviable arsenal of networks and assets which gives us flexibility and allows us to put our impressive content library to work on platforms where it can attract new audiences," Kathleen Finch, chairman and chief content officer of Warner Bros. Discovery's U.S. Networks Group said in a statement. "On any given night 30% of the available cable audience is watching one of our networks – on average that's more than 86 million viewers a week – so our ability to move content around and promote to and engage that huge audience strengthens our hand in an evolving business."

The move to air edited versions of hit HBO shows, which have been completed for years and stream on HBO Max already, marks an attempt by Warner Bros. Discovery to figure out how they can make their cable channels work when sports aren't airing. WBD previously scrapped scripted original programming from both of these networks, cancelling shows like Snowpiercer (which had already filmed its fourth season).

It's unclear how long these two HBO shows will air on TBS and TNT but there's no shortage of episodes to air in the event that it's a successful test. Silicon Valley has six seasons worth of episodes while True Blood ran for seven seasons. HBO previously has done this, prior to the WB merger with Discovery, when edited versions of Sex and the City and The Sopranos aired on television.