Batgirl - Barbara Gordon in 2022?

I’d be so sad if HBO Max went away. How will we get more Harley Quinn?

Peacemaker is a HBO Max show, isn’t it?

https://twitter.com/krolljvar/status/1554580720076566529

Yes. For now.

Of course the problem is that they don’t really have many of those anywhere near completion. (2024 looks pretty empty right now.) They may yet find having a movie in their pocket is valuable, even if it isn’t up to their standards. And of course, there’s always January …

Meanwhile, Discovery+ has only 24 million subscribers. So 31% of the viewer base of HBO Max (and something like 22% of the revenue, because Discovery+ has a lower price.)

Zaslav running WB is truly the tail wagging the dog.

(I very much doubt HBO Max is going away, it’s probably just turning into HBO Discovery and having a bunch of shows cancelled.)

The main reason Discovery bought WB/HBO was because AT&T was a total clusterfluck that was trying to unload something they should have never purchased in the first place.

Yes, but I’d wager the problem for WBD is that despite solid subscriber numbers and revenue, HBO Max is probably running deeply in the red since they’re still in that funny-money stage of streaming service ops. A show like Raised by Wolves probably cost a pretty penny, whereas Discovery+ can take that same budget and dump it into a dozen or more unscripted garbage series and immediately show profit.

We’ll supposedly find out on Thursday.

It would have cost them tens of millions more to finish and market the movie. Killing it lets them take a big tax write down.

I do think it would’ve still cost them more to finish it even for HBO Max, but I think in that article the numbers thrown around are in reference to what it would’ve taken to rework it for theatrical release.

Do you have any citations for this? Even after this news, killing a service with 77 million subscribers and amazing brand recognition seems off the wall to me.

Edit, found the rumors. This would be so wild. Getting rid of scripted programming would be…something.

If it does happen, Netflix, Prime, Disney, Paramount, Peacock and others need to go on massive hiring sprees. WB/HBO Max is sitting on a treasure trove of talent.

So everyone’s clear, the rumors are not about getting rid of scripted programming on HBO the cable service. They’re talking about getting rid of scripted shows that are exclusive to HBO Max the streaming platform, not shows that originate on the HBO and Max cable channels. So Euphoria, Succession, The Mighty Gemstones etc. will be fine.

What would be canned would be things like The Flight Attendant, Our Flag Means Death, Hacks, etc. Full list of HBO Max exclusives here.

(I have a hard time imagining they would can Hacks, since it’s good for award noms and can’t be expensive; it would probably move to one of the cable channels.)

Oh, that’s different then. That sounds like a great move if they don’t cancel anything and just put all the exclusive Max shows on HBO.

Keep in mind that in addition to what @HumanTon says, the reports are that they aren’t killing it as a streaming concept. Just as its own ecosystem. HBO Max would go away, and everything it offers would move to the Discovery+ service, possibly as its own tab/section. Current subscribers would get their accounts moved over as well, I’d assume. At any rate, we may find out on Thursday what’s happening.

The biggest change is internal and it’s already in motion. That’s WBD’s directive to move away from producing exclusive streaming content, and instead refocus on theater movies or premium TV for WB/HBO while Discovery continues to churn out unscripted, but massively profitable, shows.

Oh no!

Who subscribes to cable these days?

Remember when Discovery had shows about science? And like 5 different versions of the amazing Wings aviation documentary show? Sigh.

Discovery+ is only $5 a month. HBO Max is three times that. Moving that entire subscription base to the cheaper service would be idiotic.

I bet a lot of vendors will soon be complaining very loudly about not getting paid.

Maybe they split the difference and Discovery+ goes to $10 a month for both? Or perhaps they could go the “module” route. Where the base Disco stays at 5 & you pay 10 extra to get the Disco premium content?