The film’s two directors, of Arab descent, found out their nearly completed movie was being cancelled while they were in Egypt for one of their weddings.
Bloom brothers tv#
It’s also manifesting in cancelled movies and TV shows, most controversially of the $90 million straight-to-streaming feature Batgirl, which featured a Latinx lead character. That’s mostly translated to a lot of layoffs, including another 70 HBO Max employees last week.
Zaslav has committed to finding $3 billion in “synergies” from the merged company this year. That may further justify the stout $14.99 a month ($9.99 if you don’t mind ads with your premium TV!) HBO Max subscription price, as will continued breakout hits such as House of the Dragon.īut getting there won’t be easy. Sometime next year, the company said during its most recent earnings call, it will merge HBO Max and Discovery+ into a single service (separately, they reach a combined 92 million subscribers).
Bloom brothers series#
He also commissioned numerous original series and 10 straight-to-streaming movies a year for the service, to begin to carve out its own brand name and presence.Īll of that is on hold, and more, since Warner Media merged with Discovery Media in April, and seemingly every executive who worked under Kilar has departed, with the exception of HBO/Max content chief Casey Bloys.ĬEO David Zaslav faces a formidable task, managing more than $53 billion in debt for the nascent company, while creating enough content to feed the company’s basic and premium cable operations, theatrical exhibition pipeline and two major subscription streaming services. Previous Warner Media chief Jason Kilar was all in on HBO Max and streaming in general, controversially putting all of Warner’s 2021 movie slate on the service the same day they debuted in theaters. Given how relatively new HBO Max is compared to those in front of it (even Disney+ attracted only 1.8 percent, according to Nielsen), perhaps that viewership should be seen as an achievement, especially considering that other newcomers Apple AAPL TV+, Paramount+, Peacock, and Discovery+ didn't even register on The Gauge.īut HBO Max’s efforts to create its own identity have been hobbled from the start, thanks to a crummy launch strategy, pandemic production delays, and even a name that still confuses many consumers. All of streaming and all of cable TV each received slightly more than one-third of viewing, and broadcast 21.6 percent. Industry leader Netflix NFLX grabbed 8 percent of viewing time, YouTube another 7.3 percent. A new Nielsen measurement tool, The Gauge, said HBO Max comprised 1 percent of all viewership on streaming, cable, and broadcast television in July. Viewership and profits haven’t necessarily kept pace with the awards and reviews, however. HBO Max has gotten a lot of love from critics, awards shows, and fans since launching a little over two years ago, especially for zeitgeist-defining series it shares with HBO, such as Mare of Easttown, Euphoria and Insecure. The company sure could use the help, especially HBO Max, in the throes of deep staffing cuts, program cancellations, and wide uncertainty about its future.
At the same time, all the services are facing increased pressure from investors to actually, you know, make money.Īnd success with House of the Dragon might just help stabilize WBD after a very unstable several months. Such “churn” is the bane of the major subscription services, which all are facing higher costs to attract and retain customers amid stiff competition and a weakening economy. That kind of long-term commitment is vital these days in Streaming Land, where more and more customers are happy to sign up for the run of a high-profile show, only to cancel and move on to another service as soon as it’s done. The show’s debut was bracketed with ad campaigns on social media and online giving a 40-percent discount for new HBO Max subscribers who sign up for a year.
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