HBO Max before the end?: Warner Bros. streaming service is to be discontinued soon

• The streaming service HBO Max was successfully launched in the USA in 2020.
• However, a restructuring at Warner Bros. Discovery is said to mean the end of HBO Max.
• This could also jeopardize the start in Germany.

In the US, HBO Max has quickly become a very popular streaming service. Of course, the pay TV broadcaster HBO has been a well-known brand for decades and HBO Max is actually just the streaming successor to HBO Now and HBO Go, but only since the launch of HBO Max in 2020 did Warner Bros. also produce specifically Content exclusive to the stream.

In Germany, you could previously only access HBO Max via VPN detours, the streaming service is not scheduled to start in this country until 2025. Previously, Warner Bros. had already signed contracts with Sky and other providers that would not expire for three years and would only then release the relevant content for publication on HBO Max.

However, plans for the German launch of HBO Max could now be moot, as rumors have it that HBO Max will be discontinued soon. The plans, to be made public at Warner Bros. Discovery’s next earnings call on August 4, 2022, call for a reorganization.

HBO Max and Discovery+, another streaming service from Warner Bros. Discovery, are to be combined into a joint service. Hit series like “Game of Thrones”, “House of the Dragon” or “Westworld” still have a common streaming home. However, exclusive HBO content for the streaming market should no longer exist.

This means that the still nameless new streaming service will become HBO’s media library, but series such as “Peacemaker” or “Hacks”, which have previously been shown exclusively on HBO Max, should either be discontinued or initially migrate to HBO’s linear program.

Former WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar put his focus on HBO Max. With exclusive films with a budget of almost 70 million US dollars and the decision to release all Warner theatrical films from 2021 in the stream at the same time as the theatrical release, he wanted to let the number of subscriptions skyrocket.

This was partially successful and especially during the peak phase of the corona pandemic, many studios were only able to generate income through streams. But those days are over, as “Top Gun: Maverick” proves. The Paramount film was delayed for a long time in order to be able to start in cinemas, which was ultimately rewarded with a sensational box office result. The box office is now the focus again, with stream subscriptions taking a back seat.

Warner Bros. Discovery boss David Zaslav is now rejecting Kilar’s old stream strategy, resulting in the HBO Max movie Batgirl never being released. The film has already been shot, but until mid-August the new Warner management level has the opportunity to let unwelcome projects fall through without the associated losses appearing in the new accounting books. An accounting loophole that was quickly exploited.

So this step fits in with the new rumours, because here, too, Warner would concentrate more on films and series for HBO and thus use the HBO area of ​​the new streaming service more as a catchment area for content that has already generated enough income elsewhere.

Incidentally, Discovery+ is already available in Germany, although the launch in this country at the end of June 2022 went quite smoothly. So we could be facing a renaming in the near future, but the content of HBO should still not be withdrawn from Sky until 2025.

It remains to be seen whether Warner Bros. Discovery is doing themselves a favor with this change of strategy. However, the sudden backtrack that the film studio made on “Batgirl” is currently causing consternation in Hollywood. More movies might not pull the plug, but unpredictability isn’t a reputation that’s particularly sought after in the entertainment industry.