Warner Bros Discovery licenses movies and TV shows to Roku, Tubi

AMC Global Media

31/01/2023 13:44

By Dawn Chmielewski
       Jan 31 (Reuters) - 
    Warner Bros Discovery Inc  WBD.O  has reached deals with
streaming services Roku Inc  ROKU.O  and Fox Corp's  FOXA.O 
Tubi to license 2,000 hours of movies and TV series, as it
becomes the latest media company to embrace free, ad-supported
streaming TV. 
  
        The deals include the science-fiction western
“Westworld,” the reality series “Cake Boss,” and reality dating
series “F-Boy Island", the companies said, as Warner Bros seeks
new ways to monetize its library of film and TV content.   
  
        The streamers announced Tuesday they plan to use the
content to launch Warner Bros-branded free, ad-supported TV (or
FAST) channels. 
  
    Tubi said it plans 11 channels organized by genre, such as
"WB TV Sweet Escapes," to feature baking competitions, and three
more organized by type of programming - series, reality and
family.  
    The deal marks an evolution of Warner Bros Discovery's
approach to streaming, which once reserved the studio's movies
and series for the HBO Max subscription service. Now, the studio
has begun selling movies and TV shows to third parties.
    For the first nine months of 2022, Warner Bros Discovery's
streaming business, which includes HBO Max, lost $1.38 billion.
    The studio is seeking to capitalize on a growing segment of
the streaming universe, which industry executives see as
complementing subscription streaming services. One researcher,
nScreen Media, estimates ad revenue on FAST channels could reach
$4.1 billion this year.
    "It is the fastest growing segment of the viewing economy,"
said Evan Shapiro, a veteran television executive. "There are
people who think it’s basically going to eclipse cable before
too long."
    AMC Networks Inc  AMCX.O , Comcast Corp's  CMCSA.O 
NBCUniversal and the National Hockey League have launched FAST
channels over the last year. 
    The FAST channels are consistent with Zaslav's desire  to
license the studio's content more broadly, say people familiar
with the matter, and mine its deep library of film and
television content to generate cash.
    Zaslav told investors the company plans to "aggressively"
tackle ad-supported streaming with its own FAST streaming
service in the mold of Paramount Global's Pluto TV.  
    "We have a unique opportunity to increase our addressable
market and drive value, and we intend to move quickly," he said
during the November quarterly investor call. "Stay tuned."
    As of September, Warner Bros Discovery said it had 94.9
million combined subscribers across its HBO Max and Discovery+
streaming services, far fewer than Netflix Inc  NFLX.O  or Walt
Disney Co  DIS.N . 
    The media company continues to invest in technology, content
and promotions, even as it reports losses associated with a
restructuring and writedowns tied to the merger.     
 (Reporting by Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles; Editing by
Lincoln Feast)
 ((Dawn.Chmielewski@thomsonreuters.com;))