- Do you like HBO Max? Good, me too.
So you should enjoy the next year
with the best streaming app out there
because it ain't gonna last,
but let me back up and tell you what I mean.
Last quarter when Netflix thought they were gonna lose
2 million subscribers
but instead they only lost 1 million subscribers,
it's not like it was a good thing
but their CEO was pretty justified
when he came out and called "It less bad."
And now after last week's investors' call
from Warner Brothers Discovery
I think that's a pretty good formulation.
I think we can use that here.
It's less bad than what we might have expected
at least so far.
Today, I'm gonna tell you what we know now
about the HBO Max Discovery Plus merger
plus the questions that we still have.
And yeah, there are a lot of really big questions
that still need to be answered, so let's dive in.
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Okay. Let's get into it.
Here's what we know about the HBO Max-Discovery Plus merger.
The services are going to combine
into a single streaming service, but we already knew that.
Now we don't know exactly what form it's gonna take
but yeah, it's kind of a square peg
and round hole situation.
I don't know how they're gonna do it,
if it's gonna be any good.
But yes, Discovery Plus is going to combine with HBO Max.
Good luck, I guess.
We know that that merger will be complete in summer of 2023,
so that's when the new app will launch,
that'll be in the US.
Other regions around the world
will get that new app throughout 2024.
We also know that they're considering
a free ad supported version of the app.
As far as I know that hasn't been actually confirmed
but they're talking about it.
And we know that some forms of this merger
are already taking place.
So for instance, Chip and Joanna Gaines,
the "Fixer Upper" people, they're gonna be getting a show
next month on HBO Max.
they'll still be on Discovery Plus,
that's still gonna be their main home,
but yeah they're gonna start sliding over there
and getting those Discovery Plus people
used to the idea of going to HBO Max for their,
I don't know, household reality TV content.
We also know that fewer movies
are gonna go straight to HBO Max.
Now during the pandemic, it made a lot of sense
when movies were doing day and date releases,
which meant that they were releasing on HBO Max
the same day that they would release in theaters.
So we saw this with say something like "Mortal Combat"
or "Godzilla vs. Kong."
And we also know that with those theatrical releases
there will be longer wait times
for those movies to hit HBO Max.
So that'll give longer windows
for online purchases and rentals,
a way for Warner Brothers Discovery
to make a little bit more money off of those
before they go onto HBO Max.
All right.
So those are the highlights of the things that we know
but what do we still not know?
What do we still have questions about?
Well, the first one is pretty big.
What is this gonna cost
if you're gonna put HBO Max together with Discovery Plus?
Well, HBO Max right now
let's take the ad free version is $15.
The ad free version of Discovery Plus is $7.
So that's 22 bucks.
Are you gonna knock that price down?
Even if they did that
and let's say it went from 22 bucks and they said,
"Oh, we're gonna bundle 'em together and make it 20 bucks?"
That's still a tough pill to swallow.
That's a lot of money.
Now we're getting into 4K Netflix territory
and we know how that's working out for Netflix.
I mean, essentially what's happening from my point of view
for somebody who doesn't watch Discovery Plus,
who doesn't consume that particular kind of content,
it feels a lot like what was going on with cable
where I'm being forced to pay an inflated price
for a bunch of stuff that I don't want
that I'm not going to watch.
Discovery, as a corporation owns a lot of the channels
that I left cable over, I didn't care about those.
I was wasting money paying for them.
And now, yeah, I kind of feel
like I might be back where I started.
If the price isn't right, if it's 20 bucks,
or heaven forbid more than that
then I'm gonna feel like, "Yeah, again I'm paying for stuff
that I'm not going to watch."
It feels a little bit like the Discovery Networks
are the Remora that latch onto the side of a whale shark
and hitch a ride, right?
It can't survive on its own, it needs that host body.
So with the end of cable coming on now,
HBO Max is the thing
that it's gonna latch onto to try to survive.
And frankly, I like HBO Max too much
not to resent that just a little bit.
Anyway, I'm getting sidetracked.
I still have other questions.
Okay. That was just about the cost.
Less importantly, but still interestingly,
what will the name of this service be?
Now that might seem like small potatoes,
who cares what it's called,
what matters is the content, right?
But I do care what it's called
because that might give us a clue
into what the dominant brand will be.
Will this be an HBO Max vehicle
with Discovery Content or the other way around?
We don't know, but a name would help us.
My next question is around the possibility
of the free version of this service,
what exactly will that look like?
Would this be like a Peacock situation,
where "Yeah you can get the free ad supported version,
but we're also gonna strip out a bunch of the library"
or would it be something else entirely?
After my previous rant you might not be surprised to learn
that I would love it if most of the Discovery stuff
got shunted off into a free service
that was commercial supported
so that those who wanted that content
could still get it over there
and you leave my precious HBO Max unsullied.
Well, relatively unsullied.
My last question takes us kind of
back toward the price question,
and that is will current HBO Max subscribers
be grandfathered into the new app
even if there's a new price?
From my perspective,
I know that that wouldn't last forever, right?
I wouldn't get a lifetime subscription at the level
that I'm getting it right now
but it would give me a chance to check out the new app
at my current price
so I don't feel like I'm getting ripped off.
Now we could ask the same question
about Discovery Plus users.
Will they get grandfathered into something
but it would make a little bit less sense with that
just because it's half the cost of HBO Max.
So yeah, there we go.
Let me know what questions you have about this new service.
What are you nervous about?
What are you excited about?
I'm actually interested in that.
What are you excited about with this merger?
What will this do for us as viewers, as consumers?
Oh, but there is one more thing that we know
and that's that with all of the cancellations
there have already been six movies pulled from HBO Max,
existing made movies that have been pulled.
And we know that there will probably be more,
we know that no show or movie is safe from being pulled
from the streaming airwaves.
So don't throw out your DVDs and Blu-rays,
keep your physical media folks,
you never know when you might need it.
All right. Thanks for watching everybody.
Don't forget to like and subscribe.
Like I said before, I do these live streams
every Friday afternoon and we talk about topics
just like this, but I get your take on it live.
So I'd love to see you there.
Thanks so much for watching and I will see you next time.
Now we don't know exactly what format it's gonna take
but yeah, somehow they're gonna take the square peg
of Discovery Plus
and try to pound it into the round hole of HBO Max.
(host laughs)