Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterThey’ll come for the high-wattage HBO and Warner Bros. content. They’ll stick around for Discovery’s lifestyle comfort food.That’s the formula that Warner Bros.
Discovery executives hope will work for the integrated HBO Max and Discovery Plus services.Gunnar Wiedenfels, CFO of Discovery, revealed March 14 at an investor conference that the company plans to combine the two streaming platforms along with the rest of Discovery and WarnerMedia when the $43 billion merger is completed next month.
Wiedenfels talked up the strength of WarnerMedia’s IP and “retention power” of Discovery’s lifestyle content.The big question is how much the combined platform will charge.
Industry sources wonder how much higher HBO Max can go from its price of $14.99 ad-free or $9.99 with commercials. Discovery Plus is $6.99 without ads or $4.99 with, and it has indicated tiered pricing will continue.
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