Warner Bros Discovery has brought forward the launch of its combined HBO Max and Discovery Plus subscription streaming services from summer 2023 to spring.
“We expect a healthy inflection with the launch of our combined service and expanded global footprint,” said WBD CEO David Zaslav. “With that we are excited to announce that we have moved up our US launch date from summer of 2023 to spring. We’ve been very hard at work. We can make the service available to consumers around the globe and get the business running on all cylinders.”
The two services jointly added 2.8 million customers in during Q3 20222, said the company, which means the number of paid subscribers to WBD’s direct-to-consumer products has reached 94.9 million.
WBD also revealed it plans to launch a free ad-supported streaming platform next year, to compliment its fully paid as-yet-unnamed combined SVoD service.
Zaslav said an AVoD platform will be the best way to monetise the company’s archive, which he feels hasn’t been properly utilised on HBO Max so far. “They’re not watching old series like Dynasty on Max,” he said.
