To compete with Netflix and Disney, HBO’s parent company merges with Discovery into a new media giant.
–
The American telecom and media company AT&T splits off its media unit WarnerMedia and merges it with Discovery. The new company will instantly become the second largest media company in the US. WarnerMedia includes many world-renowned media brands, such as the pay channel HBO (known from, among others Game of thrones), the news channel CNN and the cartoon channel Cartoon Network. Warner Brothers is also part of it, with film studios such as Warner Brothers Pictures (Harry Potter, The dark knight) and New Line Cinema (Lord of the rings).
In 2016, WarnerMedia, then called Time Warner, was taken over by the American telecom giant AT&T. He wanted to expand his media arm in order to merge his telecom offer with entertainment. AT & T’s competitor Comcast had just done the same thing by acquiring NBC Universal.
Netflix
The acquisition, for which AT&T paid $ 85.4 billion, was not a great success. The great amalgamation of telecom and media did not happen. At the same time, the media world changed. With the rise of Netflix, streaming became very important. In the slipstream, other companies also jumped on that cart, such as Disney with Disney +.
Now AT&T is moving WarnerMedia into a separate company, where it merges with Discovery. It is known worldwide for its Discovery channels, and it also has Eurosport in its portfolio.
Scale plays a vital role in the streaming business. The investment in programs is huge – Netflix is investing $ 17 billion this year, for example – so two companies can do more than one together. Consolidation is also a way to reach more viewers in a competitive market, where streaming platforms have to compete not only with each other, but also with Youtube and Tiktok.
HBO Max
Together, WarnerMedia and Discovery revenues amount to $ 41 billion per year. That means the new merged company, for which a name has not yet been announced, will become the second largest media company in the US, after Disney.
The question is what the merger will mean for WarnerMedia’s own streaming platform HBO Max, which clocked in at 44.2 million subscribers in the first quarter of this year. Discovery also has its own streaming service with Discovery Plus. It is not inconceivable that both merge, although nothing is known about this yet.
In our country streaming service expanded Streamz the contract with HBO has just been canceled, in order to also be able to offer programs from HBO Max.
– .
