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WarnerMedia's entry into the streaming war may not be solely based on HBO, it will include the premium service provided in the original base package.
The AT & T-owned media company plans to launch the still-unknown WarnerMedia subscription video-on-demand service at a price of $ 16 to $ 17 per month. It should also bring together HBO, Cinemax and TV shows and Warner Bros. films. Wall Street Journal report citing anonymous sources.
This would make WarnerMedia's SVOD a bit higher than the stand-alone HBO Now service ($ 14.99 per month) and more expensive than Netflix's standard two-stream HD plans ($ 12.99), Showtime ($ 10.99). $) and Hulu VOD packages ($ 5.99 with ads, $ 11.99 without ads) – and more than double Disney Plus, which should be launched on November 12 at an aggressive price of $ 6.99 per month .
Representatives from WarnerMedia and HBO did not respond to requests for comment.
Why would WarnerMedia want to come out with a "big" package of SVOD, especially in the face of many cheaper competitors? The challenge for WarnerMedia is to leverage HBO as the backbone of the new streaming service – without reducing the current price of HBO or helping to break the cord.
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AT & T President Randall Stephenson said at JP Morgan's investment conference last month that WarnerMedia's SVOD marketing strategy was based on pay-TV providers such as that Comcast and "was also pushing digital distribution". HBO customers of pay-TV platforms would benefit from SVD WarnerMedia service.
AT & T announced that WarrnerMedia's SVOD Direct Consumer Service will make its US debut in beta form in the fourth quarter of 2019, with a full launch in the first quarter of 2020. It has not announced any awards. The initial plan was to launch with three levels – an entry-level movie package; a service with original programming and movies; and one that provided the content of the first two plus a WarnerMedia library and licensed content. However, the three-tier strategy has been abandoned in favor of a single plan, according to the Journal.
The phone company has set great expectations for the new WarnerMedia SVOD service. Stephenson, at the Investment Conference, said that he "would become an important engine of our growth over the next few years, as we defend this product … We think this is about the tens of millions of subscribers we will have ".
WarnerMedia CEO John Stankey decided to oversee the product streaming with Otter Media CEO Tony Goncalves. Andy Forssell, Otter's latest chief operating officer, assumed the role of executive vice president and general manager of the Goncalves service. Brad Bentley, a long-time DirecTV executive who led the development of WarnerMedia's SVOD, has stepped down.
According to the newspaper, after the initial launch of paid streaming, WarnerMedia plans to introduce a version of the cheaper, advertising-funded service, later in 2020, similar to the SVOD offer of Entry-level Hulu.
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