Warner’s Bleacher Report Takes Pivotal Role in Sports Streaming
10.08.2023 - 16:41
/ variety.com
Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Bleacher Report has a new type of game to analyze. Surf on over to the sports-commentary site that has been part of the Warner Bros. Discovery stable since 2012, and you’ll see the usual stuff: a ranking of the best superstar duos in the NBA; speculation over whether the Atlanta Hawks will trade for the Toronto Raptors’ Shams Chanria; and an aggregation of a story about the Kansas City Chiefs and defensive tackle Chris Jones.
Missing is word of the site’s new function for its parent company. This fall, according to two people familiar with the matter, Warner will bring its sports portfolio — previously the domain of the two cable giants TNT and TBS — to its Max streaming service, under the Bleacher Report name. Warner Bros.
Discovery declined to make executives available for comment. Executives from Warner last week hinted at the debut of a new sports offering on Max, suggesting that they might seek to charge subscribers an extra fee in order to view them. Warner Bros.
Discovery declined to make executives available for comment. CNBC previously reported new details about the plan. Warner will be using the digital sports outlet to help it thread a very tight needle.
The company’s schedule of NBA games, NHL contests and MLB matchups are a critical part of the economics of TNT and TBS, which, last year secured $1.6 billion in advertising, according to data from Kagan, a market-research unit of S&P Global Intelligence — nearly 5% of the company’s overall revenue from 2022. Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav may be eager for consumers to subscribe to Max — a streaming amalgam that offers sublime HBO series such as “White Lotus” and reality fare like “Naked and Afraid — but he likely
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