Greetings! The streaming wars continue and it seems like we’re seeing more changes. Warner Bros. and Discovery merged into one company, but what does it mean? Why did this merger happen and what are the repercussions? I’ll give you some theories to chew on.
Let’s start at the beginning. WarnerMedia was an affiliate of AT&T. I assume AT&T is still in control, but we’ll see. Recently, WarnerMedia and Discovery merged together and their new title is Warner Bros. Discovery. The merger won’t finalize until next year and I doubt the government will interfere. Last year, AT&T and WarnerMedia launched a streaming service called HBO Max for $14.99 a month. It was supposed to compete with large scale streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, and others. HBO Max includes everything under the WarnerMedia umbrella, such as the DC film universe, the Wizarding World, Godzilla, Turner Classic Movies, Cartoon Network, Loony Toons, HBO, The Matrix, The Conjuring, Hanna-Barbera animation, etc. That’s a lot of content! Unfortunately, HBO Max is one of the least popular streaming services. It has a minimal number of subscribers compared to similar services, including unpopular ones like Apple TV+ and Peacock. I don’t understand what happened because HBO Max has excellent quality with a wealth of movies and television shows. Also, Netflix and the Disney+ bundle are virtually the same price as HBO Max. But it lacks a substantial number of subscribers and that’s the problem. AT&T and WarnerMedia made a controversial decision during the pandemic. All of the movies from Warner Bros. are debuting on HBO Max and in theaters simultaneously during the entire year of 2021. I thought it was great, but this choice caused a huge uproar in the film industry and movie theaters. Seriously, theaters were closed until recently and we’re still living in a pandemic, but our safety doesn’t matter to the film industry. They just want our money. The creative teams who worked on these movies were also upset. So, AT&T and WarnerMedia coughed up extra money to directors, actors, and other creative talents. Their bold move to stream every movie on day one probably generated some subscribers, but it wasn’t enough. In the end, HBO Max is becoming a failure and WarnerMedia is probably losing money. What about Discovery? Cable in general isn’t thriving very well and Discovery recently launched their own streaming service called Discovery+. It seems to be a reasonably popular streaming service, but Discovery+ has a niche audience and it can’t compete with super giants like Netflix. Discovery+ includes several original shows and syndicated programming from their affiliate networks like the ID Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Food Network, HGTV, Travel Channel, and more. It’s very cheap at only $4.99 per month. Due to the overall situation, it makes sense for Warner Bros. and Discovery to combine their assets. This merger brings even more variety to the equation and it might help them become more competitive. I have a theory. Perhaps, AT&T will sell Warner Bros. Discovery to someone else. Maybe they’ll sell the new affiliate to NBCUniversal, Apple, ViacomCBS, or even Netflix. You never know. Think about Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox. Now we have a reasonably priced bundle with Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+. I could picture something very similar happening to Warner Bros. Discovery. For example, NBCUniversal could purchase Warner Bros. Discovery and create a bundle with HBO Max, Discovery+, and Peacock. If ViacomCBS buys them, it might be a bundle with HBO Max, Discovery+, and Paramount+. It’s also possible that something entirely different will happen. Keep in mind, Amazon recently bought MGM. Streaming services are consolidating their content across the board. That’s why it’s called the streaming wars. Casualties are inevitable. Eventually, more film studios will purchase their competitors and we’re going to have a limited number of companies. At this point, the world isn’t big enough for a bunch of major film studios. Long before the pandemic, studios released a ton of movies each year and many of them were not profitable. That catches up to the film industry after a while. Anything could happen, but I genuinely believe we’re going have fewer studios and more consolidation. Somebody will probably buy Lionsgate in the near future. I assume Warner Bros. Discovery will get scooped up. Even Sony might sell their film studio and just focus on the PlayStation along with other types of electronics. It’s a volatile market and the results will be gradual during the next several years. So, what happens when companies like Disney, Netflix, Amazon, and Apple rule the world? What happens to streaming services and movie theaters? I’m one of the few people who sees a positive outcome. The current business model for movie theaters and the film industry isn’t working in my opinion. They’re releasing tons of movies and it just feels like everything is mass produced. The majority of movies aren’t going to boast a billion dollars in the box office and the pandemic isn’t making the situation any easier. A lot of movies are coming out in 2021 and I’m not impressed. Honestly, it’s really hard for me to recommend outings in movie theaters because we’re still fighting COVID-19 and the quality of modern films are quite low. I think the best movies of the year include a little action flick called Nobody, Tom & Jerry, a weird sci-fi thriller called Voyagers, and a Hulu original called Boss Level. That’s a pretty low bar. Most of the 2021 movie slate was filmed in 2019 or even earlier, so we can’t blame the pandemic for bad products. I wouldn’t mind if the film industry consolidated their resources and made fewer movies per year with better quality. Also, it wouldn’t kill Hollywood to release more of their titles on streaming services anyway. They should save the big releases for theaters and put everything else on their streaming services. But what do I know? I’m just a blogger, movie buff, and gamer. Overall, the next handful of years will determine the direction of streaming services, movie theaters, and the film industry. I think it’s going to be a big mess for a while because Hollywood will want everything to go back the way it was before and that’s not possible. Let’s see what happens. We’re going to see a lot of drama. What do you think of the streaming wars?Do you have any predictions for the film industry? Are you heading back to movie theaters yet? Leave a comment and maybe we can have a discussion. Thanks a lot for visiting my blog. Take care of yourselves, be strong, and make the best of our current situation. Enjoy your movie nights and I’ll see you guys again next week.
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
May 2019
Categories |