Should Warner Bros. Discovery Compete in the Kids Streaming Wars?
The Most Important Story of the Week for 7-Sep-2022
Often, the “buzziest” stories aren’t the most important stories for the entertainment industry, even if they get a lot of clicks. But since my last “most important story of the week” column, one story was both the most talked about and probably the most important:
HBO Max removed even more titles. Including old episodes of Sesame Street and the Elmo spinoff! Spending lots of dough to make a lot of Sesame Street content…and then abandoning it? You don’t see that every day!
Of course, there isn’t much left for me to explain on the various financial shenanigans that led Warner Bros. Discovery to such a drastic move. (CNBC had a good write-up, for example.) Instead, I’m left thinking about Warner Bros. Discovery and their long term thinking. Specifically…
What is Warner Bros. Discovery’s plan for kids and family content?
On the one hand, this seems like an easy question to answer: they’re getting out of it. That’s what Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav said in the last earnings call. But he also said that brands like Looney Tunes are one of the key pillars of the studio.
This feels like a contradiction worth diving deep into, so let’s make it the most important story of the week…