Warner Bros. Discovery Announces HBO Max/Discovery+ Merger Release Window

By Timothy Adams

The anticipated release window for the merger of HBO Max and discovery+ was announced by Warner Bros. Discovery during its Q2 2022 earnings call. The merging of the two streaming platforms has been a hot topic ever since Discovery purchased WarnerMedia, as having two separate services wasn't a priority for Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav. During the call, Zaslav stated that their top priority is to launch "an integrated SVOD service", allowing subscribers to access both catalogues of content. The big question was when would this merging of HBO Max/discovery+ take place? It's now known that the anticipated rollout is scheduled for next summer.

Summer 2023 is when Warner Bros. Discovery plans to merge HBO Max and discovery+. "Our primary focus for the rollout will be in the markets where HBO Max has already launched," said JB Perrette, President & CEO of Discovery Streaming & International. "We plan to launch the service sequentially starting in the US next summer, Latin America will follow later in the year. European markets with HBO Max will follow in early 24 with additional launches in key Asia Pacific territories and some new European markets coming later in 2024. Of course, as we get more of the development work and testing under our belts, we will explore ways to accelerate the rollout if and where it makes sense."

"With respect to streaming, our main priority right now is launching an integrated SVOD service," Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav said earlier in the call. "And in a few moments, JB will talk more about the strategy and some of the key building blocks and milestones as we bring HBO Max and Discovery+ together under one offering. Our streaming strategy has evolved over the past year and really reflects the importance of rather than the dependence on this segment of our global content monetization plan."

"Once our SVOD service is firmly established in the market, we see real potential and are exploring the opportunity for a fast or free ad-supported streaming offering that would give consumers who do not want to pay a subscription fee access to great library content, while at the same time serving as an entry point to our premium service," Zaslav added.

Warner Bros. Discovery now has a total of 92.1 million subscribers across the globe. That total includes HBO, HBO Max, and Discovery+, rising by about 1.6 million subscribers in Q2. That said, WBD didn't break down the subscriber numbers by individual service, so there's no way to know how HBO Max specifically has performed over the last quarter.

While Warner Bros. Discovery has grown its global audience over the last quarter, it has actually lost subscribers in the United States. The streaming total here in the States dropped by about 300,000 in the second quarter.

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