Despite a challenging period of cancellations and layoffs at HBO, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav remains committed to generating swift revenue.
According to a recent report from Deadline, Warner Bros. Discovery is considering licensing HBO Original Series to Netflix. While this move is said to have faced opposition from HBO’s veteran leadership, it is viewed as a necessary step to strengthen the company’s financial performance.
However, there is uncertainty about whether this deal will ultimately come to fruition.
Reports suggest that the series at the center of this potential agreement is Issa Rae’s Insecure, which aired on HBO for five seasons until its conclusion in December 2021. It is anticipated that other shows may also be included in the deal.
This licensing arrangement would not be exclusive, as Warner Bros. Discovery would still retain the ability to showcase these series on its own platform, Max.
This potential streaming deal would not be the first instance of a TV show or film being available on multiple streaming networks. Currently, due to certain contractual arrangements, Avatar: The Way of Water can be streamed on both Disney Plus and Max.
However, if this agreement materializes, it would mark Warner Bros. Discovery’s first major streaming deal since it sold a collection of canceled shows to free ad-supported television (FAST) networks like Roku and Tubi earlier this year.
The news comes after Warner Bros. Discovery’s recent rebranding and relaunch of HBO Max as Max. This rebranding included the introduction of a new pricing tier for 4K video content. However, there were indications that the rollout may have been hasty, leading to an embarrassing issue with the credits.
This misstep prompted WBD to issue an apology as it mistakenly grouped writers, directors, and other contributors under a single “creators” label, which understandably upset striking WGA writers.
