Streaming Service Pricing 'Irrationally' Low: WBD CEO
Releasing new motion pictures to streaming didn’t reduce streaming churn or attract new streaming subscribers, and Warner Bros. Discovery has backed out of that approach, CEO David Zaslav said Thursday at a MoffettNathanson conference. He said a big focus of…
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the past year, since the companies combined, was dealing with two unsuccessful areas -- HBO Max and motion pictures, both of which were operating in the red. HBO Max has turned profitable overall and will be profitable in the U.S. this year, ahead of schedule, as the company has stopped overspending on streaming content, he said. Its motion pictures “are making that turn now,” he said. Time Warner and Warner Bros. had been run as independent businesses, and work combining them is still underway, he said: “We are not there yet.” He said overall streaming service pricing “is irrational,” with people paying far less than they used to for cable subscriptions when they had access to less content. “That will all work out,” he said. He said consolidation of streaming services is likely, with now-rival services jointly marketing their products. "If we don't do it to ourselves," services like Amazon, Apple and Roku "will do it to us," he said.