Warner Bros Discovery said it would overturn plans announced in September 2023 to launch the Premium Tier of Sports Programming at MAX, making sports and news accessible to standard and premium service level subscribers.
“More than last year, we have had the opportunity to assess how users are involved in Max’s sports and news. We have been actively involved in ways to evolve the US sports distribution ecosystem. For now, we believe that the best place for that content is in the standard and premium class.” “This update will allow subscribers to continue to enjoy the coveted access within MAX, while also allowing for continued investment in premium sports and news portfolio.”
The decision was made clear as Warner Bros. Discovery faces headwinds at the sports arena. After the current NBA season ends, the company will lose access to live gaming television broadcasts that have met the schedule of the TNT cable network for many years. This could be that the add-ons for the sport are less attractive to fans, despite Warner attempting to bolster its portfolio in recent months with new rights deals tied to the French Open and the College Football Championship Game.
The company’s work to move CNN to streaming could be even more complicated by the move in the news operations themselves, which promised to launch a new suite of products for digital and mobile users.
Warner is part of a joint venture between Disney and Fox and has tried to launch another streaming sports service called Venu. The company was ready to launch a new NFL season last fall, but it left the project due to legal challenges and hired a CEO.
Most rival streaming outlets are not trying to force subscribers to pay extra for sports. In fact, NBCuniversal is using sport rights in the NFL and the Olympics to take new users to Peacock. Amazon hopes that “Thursday Night Football” and the new NBA package will promote greater use of Prime Video. Netflix didn’t ask for additional fees to stream NFL games on Christmas Day.
More coming…
