Zaslav Says Venu Sports Will Be ‘Contemporary Product’ Without Channels Despite Evidence to the Contrary
The Warner Bros. Discovery CEO has long been a proponent of streaming aggregation, and predicts a new wave over the next year or so.
Warner Bros. Discovery chief executive David Zaslav has banged the drum for streaming consolidation for quite some time. Over a year ago, Zaslav mused that aggregation was a foregone conclusion, and that any company with a streaming service that didn’t go along with the trend would be forced into it one way or another. Fast-forwarding to summer 2024, a new wave of bundling has indeed taken the industry by storm, and WBD’s content is at the center of multiple efforts to provide customers with aggregated products like the forthcoming Max bundle with Disney+ and Hulu, and the sports-focused joint venture Venu Sports. Zaslav gave his thoughts about consolidation once again at the 2024 Sun Valley conference in Idaho this week and shared some new details on Venu as well.
Key Details:
- Zaslav argued a new onset of consolidation via M&A or streaming bundles is coming in the next year or two.
- He pledged Venu Sports would be a “contemporary product,” with no channels which will have around 75% of American sports rights.
- WBD is still planning to launch a bundle of Max, Disney+ and Hulu at some point this summer.
Zaslav arrived in Sun Valley, Idaho earlier this week for the annual conference of media moguls hosted by Allen and Co., and he continued to espouse a philosophy of streaming partnerships. Many analysts have long held the belief that the market simply won’t support hundreds of on-demand streaming platforms, and that eventually it will whittle down into three or four Netflix-sized platforms. Zaslav clearly agrees, as comments made to CNBC at Sun Valley this week indicate.
“I think probably over the next year or two you’re going to see some real consolidation, whether that happens from companies buying each other, or jointly going after streaming together,” he said.
In part, Zaslav’s words are a self-fulfilling prophecy. The public is waiting impatiently for the new Disney+, Hulu, and Max bundle which was announced in May, and Venu Sports is set to arrive this fall, so WBD is already deeply engrossed in multiple consolidation efforts.
But there are others in the streaming world who are seeking out bundle opportunities; Netflix recently joined with Peacock and Apple TV+ in the StreamSaver bundle for Comcast internet and TV customers, and Paramount is actively seeking joint venture opportunities for Paramount+, even as it undergoes an ownership change.
“I personally think eventually the streaming world is going to look very similar to the way that the [cable] world looked in the past,” incoming Paramount president Jeff Shell said earlier this week. “If you’re in that bundle, you’re going to win, and if you’re not in that bundle, you’re in real trouble.”
Will Venu Sports Have Live Channels, or Not?
Zaslav also took a few moments to talk a little bit more in detail about the Venu Sports joint venture platform, which WBD is creating with Disney and Fox. Saying that the platform would have “about 75% of [all] sport,” Zaslav promised viewers that it would be a modern streaming service with an intuitive interface.
“It’s a really contemporary product, so there will be no channels, when you go on there you will be able to see all of the hockey, NASCAR,” and other sports he said.
The “no channels” part of Zaslav’s comments is intriguing, because an early look at the Venu app showed that the service will have a live guide that shows what’s on each of the 14 channels that comprise the service. Even more confusing, The Streamable confirmed with all the three companies involved in Venu that the service would feature full livestreams of all 14 networks, not just the sports available on those networks.
Now, perhaps someone’s mind has changed in the interim, and the service will only offer the live sports from the channels in its inventory. Or maybe Zaslav was only referring to the splash page of Venu Sports, which lays out all the sporting events available at a given moment instead of directing viewers immediately to a live programming guide. But it will bear watching as the release of Venu gets closer this fall.
The signs have increasingly pointed to a much more robust wave of consolidation and aggregation for streamers over the past couple of years, so I have little doubt that Zaslav’s prognostications about the next couple of years are mostly correct. We are very likely to see a number of streaming services swallowed up or cast aside as the industry continues to evolve, and Max is already positioned to be at the center of at least one bundle going forward.
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.