When WarnerMedia's $43 billion deal with Discovery is completed, the ever-expanding streaming conflicts will shrink significantly. When the two firms merge, their separate streaming services — HBO Max and Discovery Plus — will be combined, it was confirmed on Monday.
According to Variety, Discovery CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels announced the move on Monday while speaking at the Deutsche Bank 30th Annual Media, Internet, and Telecom Conference.
However, it is unknown what the new business will name the merged service or how much it would price. WarnerMedia's HBO Max starts at $10 per month for an advertising-supported version, or $15 per month for an ad-free alternative. Discovery Plus starts at $5 per month with advertisements and $7 per month with ad-free streaming.
The business believes it will take longer than weeks to get an unified service to market, but it intends to do it in months rather than years.
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HBO Max is the bigger of the two services, with current owners AT&T reporting in January that the service (together with TV channel HBO) will have 73.8 million customers by the end of 2021. Discovery had 22 million subscribers at the end of the year.
According to the CFO, the merged service that will eventually emerge would most likely provide an ad-supported and ad-free premium, since HBO Max and Discovery+ have already achieved success with that model.
The streaming environment has experienced some consolidation prior to this merger, as the ecosystem's increased competition appears to have had an influence on incumbents. Netflix, for example, is experiencing slower subscriber growth than in previous years. It is currently attempting to add value to its service by including mobile games in order to increase and retain users. Meanwhile, Disney is increasing subscriptions by making its Hulu/Disney+/ESPN+ package more appealing and incorporating some of its more expensive add-ons into its main bundle. Starting this summer, Paramount+ will likewise consolidate services by adding Showtime to its direct-to-consumer offering.