Disney+, Max and Hulu Bundle Reflects a ‘Restructuring’ of Streaming Viewing, Warner Bros. Discovery Chief Says
09.05.2024 - 15:01
/ variety.com
Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Netflix used to say its goal was to become HBO faster than HBO could become Netflix. Well, Netflix succeeded on that front. Now Warner Bros.
Discovery — in partnership with Disney and others — is looking to recomposite a cable TV-style streaming bundle to gain greater scale before Netflix gets even farther ahead of legacy media companies. David Zaslav, Warner Bros. Discovery’s CEO, speaking on the company’s Q1 earnings call Thursday, described streaming as “a generational disruption” to the industry.
WBD’s just-announced deal with Disney to introduce a three-way bundle comprising Max, Disney+ and Hulu starting this summer in the U.S. is emblematic of a “restructuring of how people view content,” he said. “It does feel like this is a moment, a moment in terms of what the next year two years will bring,” Zaslav said.
“You know I said a while back that this is a generational disruption. I went through a generation of disruption — not quite as big as this — but, you know, when my career started, when the cable business was a real disruption. And as we look at what happens ahead, there likely will be a, you know, a restructuring of how people view content.” Pricing of the Max-Hulu-Disney+ bundle hasn’t been announced.
But it will be “priced very attractively for consumers,” Warner Bros. Discovery’s JB Perrette, CEO and president of global streaming and games, told analysts. As sold separately, the Disney+ and Hulu bundle (without ads) costs $19.99/month and the standard ad-free Max plan currently costs $15.99/month.