Breaking: Max Will Be Available in Bundle With Forthcoming Joint Venture Sports Streamer; WBD Continues Rebundling Push
CEO David Zaslav continues to beat the drum for bundling and he wants WBD to be at the forefront.
The major story dominating the entertainment industry in recent weeks has been the announcement that Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery will be coming together to launch a direct-to-consumer (DTC) streaming service that pulls together the three companies’ live sports media rights. However, as more has been revealed about the project, it’s becoming clearer that the media entities involved see this as far more than a pure sports play. During the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call on Friday, CEO David Zaslav confirmed that WBD’s flagship streaming service Max will be available to bundle with the sports streamer set to launch this fall, echoing a similar announcement made by Disney.
- The streaming sports joint venture between Disney, Fox, and WBD is set to launch this fall.
- Disney has already announced that it will bundle its entertainment service with the platform, now WBD will do the same.
- WBD CEO David Zaslav believes in the power of bundling and wants his company to take more of a lead in the matter.
Zaslav has long been a proponent of bundling, both between corporate siblings and competitors. Verizon offers a bundle between Max and Netflix and even before Zaslav’s Discovery officially took over WarnerMedia, he was openly discussing merging the no-defunct HBO Max and discovery+ into the platform now known as Max. So it is no surprise that he would want to give consumers the option to add his company’s entertainment platform to its sports joint venture.
“We’ll also be able to bundle this product with Max,” Zaslav said. “So we see this new joint venture as another potential driver of incremental growth for our business going forward.”
Currently, the totality of WBD’s sports offerings is available on Max as part of the Bleacher Report Sports Add-On. The initial plan was to begin requiring customers to pay extra for that service beginning next week, but that move has been delayed reportedly until the summer.
That decision very well might be tied to the launch of the sports JV and its bundling capabilities, because the redundancy of the offerings makes it less likely for consumers to opt for WBD’s standalone sports package.
Why Is David Zaslav Focused on Rebundling?
When media entities began launching their own streaming services, the idea was to create “walled gardens” around their respective content libraries. However, as the industry has evolved, entertainment executives have realized how powerful the cable bundle that they helped destroy actually was at attracting and retaining customers. Part of the current problem for consumers is that the titles, games, and events that they want to watch are spread out over an increasing number of disparate platforms, something that Zaslav hopes this bundle helps correct.
“Everything is driven by the consumer experience,” he said, “and the consumer experience right now is cluttered, it’s awkward, it’s somewhat confusing. People have learned how to deal with it: you Google where a show is, and where a sport is. But rebundling just makes an awful lot of sense.”
On WBD’s earnings call, Zaslav discussed the future of bundling and pointed to the Verizon deal with Netflix as “a very meaningful experience for people.” And while he sees a future in which tech companies like Apple, Amazon, or Roku become bundling hubs, he would prefer if his company takes the lead in coordinating its own partnerships with other media entities.
“I’ve always advocated that we should do it ourselves, and so we’re looking to do that domestically,” Zaslav said. “When you put our product together with Lachlan [Murdoch] and Fox’s product, together with the ESPN product, it just has a much better, more fluid, more simple consumer experience. It’s not, ‘Which channel is it on?’ It’s not, ‘Where do I go; how do I go, do I have it, don’t I have it?’ It’s in one place. And I think more and more will be gravitating toward that.”
While many have been angered by Zaslav’s decisions during his two-year tenure as WBD CEO, they have at least helped make the streaming arm of his company profitable, which is a rare occurrence in today’s environment. While Zaslav’s plans are often viewed as Draconian, they have been effective. So if the veteran executive is committed to rebundling his company’s products, then expect even more savings when you buy in bulk from Warner Bros. Discovery in the future.
Max
Max is a subscription video streaming service that gives access to the full HBO library, along with exclusive Max Originals. There are hubs for content from TLC, HGTV, Food Network, Discovery, TCM, Cartoon Network, Travel Channel, ID, and more. Watch hit series like “The Last of Us,” “House of the Dragon,” “Succession,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” and more. Thanks to the B/R Sports add-on, users can watch NBA, MLB, NHL, March Madness, and NASCAR events.