Information about a significant development in the online content market has arrived. HBO Max and Discovery Plus services will merge in the new year. Born through the unite of Warner Media and Discovery companies, Warner Bros. Discovery company decided to merge HBO Max and Discovery Plus services in 2023.
HBO Max will merge with Discovery+ next summer
Outlining plans for combining HBO Max with Discovery+, JB Perrette, CEO, and President, Global Streaming and Games, said the two were “very unique and complementary streaming services”.
The name of the new service, which will be introduced in the summer of 2023, has not yet been officially announced. The new service, which is reported to be implemented in the US market first and will cause a major dismissal, seems logical for the company in general. Because users are not very keen on subscribing to more than one service, it is understandable that companies gather all the content they have under one platform.
Total subscriber numbers to HBO Max and Discovery+ increased by 1.7 million to 92 million in the quarter. Discovery+ has 22 million subscribers while HBO Max and the established HBO premium channel has 73.8 million subscribers. Warner Bros. Discovery estimates there to be an overlap of an additional overlap of around 4 million subscribers between the two services.
It is thought that Warner Bros. Discovery will offer an advertising subscription package within this new service. Before the new service, it will transfer some HBO Max content to Discovery Plus and some Discovery Plus content to HBO Max. According to the company’s statement, HBO, HBO Max, and Discovery Plus currently have a total of 92.1 million subscribers. This number can easily exceed 100 million with the new service. The new service can enter many markets.
Europe, which has seen a reduction in local production and where many markets are yet to see HBO Max launch, will follow in Early 2024. Plans for an ad-supported offering will be revealed at Warner Bros. Discovery’s Investor Day later this year.
