WBD CFO: ‘So Far, So Good’ on Max Launch; Thinks Service Has Room to Grow Revenues Further
WBD CFO: ‘So Far, So Good’ on Max Launch; Thinks Service Has Room to Grow Revenues Further
The week Warner Bros. Discovery executives have been anticipating with bated breath is finally here. Max launched on Tuesday, May 23, the culmination of months worth of effort to bring much of the content of discovery+ together with the premium streaming library of HBO Max.
As with any big tech product launch, the Max rollout was accompanied by myriad small glitches. Users on social media noted the Max app didn’t download automatically as promised, and other such bumps in the road. But from a big-picture perspective, the rollout went well according to WBD chief financial officer Gunnar Wiedenfels, who had the chance to speak at the JP Morgan Global Technology, Media and Communications conference on Wednesday.
“It’s day one, but so far so good, and we’re very, very pleased with how [the launch of Max has] gone,” Wiedenfels said. “And again, thinking ahead here for the rest of the year and for the future of the company, this combined product opens up so much opportunity for us, and we’re going to learn so much over the next few months in terms of changing fewer behaviors, the cross-pollination between the two content portfolios now being combined into one.”
The CFO also spoke about the potential for Max to keep users engaged instead of cycling away. In the company’s view, content from discovery+ will give customers something to stay entertained with while they wait for the next prestige HBO series to come along.
“I have a lot more confidence in our ability to profitably grow subscribers than maybe 12 months ago,” Wiedenfels said. “I have a lot more confidence in our ability to continue driving down churn. We’ve seen engagement come up, we’ve seen churn come down. It’s small things, and — but we’re consistently and continuously chipping away at some of the key metrics. And again, some of the real — the really powerful impact of this combined content portfolio and a much, much better user experience in the sense of a technical functionality and reliability is only going to start kicking in now.”
The technical improvements mentioned are a big reason why WBD felt launching Max was so important in the first place. Company CEO David Zaslav said the HBO Max interface was “not particularly good” in November, and the new platform has some key updates to improve the user experience. These updates include measures to prevent service slowdowns when millions of users flock to the service, which will be a big help this Sunday when Max gets the series finales of “Succession” and “Barry” on the same night.
If Max does not see a big influx of new users to its service now that the official rollout is complete, it could start to integrate more live news and sports onto the platform. Executives have confirmed that live sports like NBA and NHL games, and news content from CNN could make their way to Max at a later time, but first WBD wants to ensure the service has its legs under it.
If you’re one of the users whose Max app didn’t download automatically, you may be a little frustrated with Wiedenfels’ “all is well” assessment. But the Max launch was not accompanied by any large-scale outages or glitches, and if it performs financially the way company representatives expect it will, WBD could improve substantially on the small $50 million profit its streaming segment turned in last quarter.
HBO Max
HBO Max is a subscription video streaming service that gives access to the full HBO library and 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. Within HBO Max, B/R Sports allows users to watch live NBA, MLB, NHL, March Madness, and NASCAR events.