{"id":50198,"date":"2022-08-19T15:10:46","date_gmt":"2022-08-19T15:10:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/heres-why-hbo-max-is-pulling-dozens-of-films-and-tv-series\/"},"modified":"2022-08-19T15:10:46","modified_gmt":"2022-08-19T15:10:46","slug":"heres-why-hbo-max-is-pulling-dozens-of-films-and-tv-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/heres-why-hbo-max-is-pulling-dozens-of-films-and-tv-series\/","title":{"rendered":"Here’s why HBO Max is pulling dozens of films and TV series"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/p>\n
\n

Warner Bros. Discovery’s HBO Max is removing 36 movies and TV series from its platform. There are three main reasons why it’s happening.<\/p>\n

The films and series \u2212 which include 20 original HBO Max shows such as teen drama “Generation,” and “Sesame Street” spinoff “The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo” \u2212 will be removed by end of Friday. The decision comes ahead of Warner Bros. Discovery plans to combine Discovery+ with HBO Max into a new service that will launch in the US in mid-2023.<\/p>\n

“As we work toward bringing our content catalogs under one platform, we will be making changes to the content offering available on both HBO Max and Discovery+. That will include the removal of some content from both platforms,” \u200b\u200ban HBO Max spokesman said in a statement.<\/p>\n

It may seem strange for HBO Max to remove series it specifically made for the platform \u2212 streaming services are full of little-watched shows and movies. But for Warner Bros. Discovery, there are three main motivations behind the cuts: slashing costs, moving away from content aimed at kids and families and decluttering the service.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Cost cutting<\/h2>\n
\n

While HBO Max already paid for the production of these shows, it’s still on the hook for residuals, including so-called back-end payments to cast, crew and writers, based on long-term viewership metrics.<\/p>\n

By removing these films and shows, especially the ones HBO Max created rather than licensed, executives can cut expenses immediately. Warner Bros. Discovery has promised at least $3 billion in synergies stemming from the merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery, announced in May.<\/p>\n

The content eliminations in total will save “tens of millions of dollars,” according to two people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because the finances are private.<\/p>\n

The reasoning isn’t the same as why superhero movie “Batgirl” was scrapped earlier this month. That decision took advantage of a change-of-strategy merger tax benefit that allowed for writing off incomplete projects. The HBO Max shows already launched and have been on the service, so they don’t apply for that benefit.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Eschewing kids and family<\/h2>\n
\n

Most of what HBO Max is pulling is either reality TV or kids and family content. (A full list of removed content is at the end of this story).<\/p>\n

HBO Max will get its unscripted content from Discovery, which will add nearly its entire catalog of reality TV, including from HGTV, Food Network and Animal Plant, to the combined service next year. HBO Max laid off 14% of its staff earlier this week, including many from its unscripted division.<\/p>\n

The move away from kids and family content is new. HBO Max executives decided viewers are simply not going to the service to watch kids programming. Even “Sesame Street,” which HBO Max acquired in 2019 in a five-year deal, isn’t pulling strong numbers, according to people familiar with the matter. That prompted the removal of “The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo,” the people said.<\/p>\n

HBO specializes in adult-themed content that skews toward a male audience. Discovery specializes in adult-themed reality content that is watched by more women. While the combined services hit both adult gender demographics, they don’t target kids. Instead of adding more content to fill that niche, Warner Bros. Discovery has decided to move away from the category with its future investment budget, said the people.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Decluttering<\/h2>\n
\n

Streaming executives across the industry frequently talk of Netflix having a “discovery” problem. Netflix has so much content, they say, that it’s hard to search for its best stuff. While Netflix tries to mitigate this with algorithms and Top 10 lists, the service has hundreds of shows that get lost in the shuffle because there’s so much content gumming up the search process.<\/p>\n

Everything getting pulled from “HBO Max” was infrequently watched, according to people familiar with the matter.<\/p>\n

With the coming addition of Discovery+ content, Warner Bros. Discovery executives are concerned HBO Max may get bogged down with little-watched films and shows. That could cause viewers to associate the service with having a lot of stuff they don’t want to watch \u2014 the “Netflix problem,” said one HBO Max executive, who asked not to be named because the decision was private.<\/p>\n

Traditional pay-TV has also struggled with the problem. Cable TV has ballooned in cost, averaging about $100 per month, while adding more and more poorly viewed cable networks over the years. The result is that customers have been rejecting cable TV in droves.<\/p>\n

This risk of having too much content is one of the reasons Disney has historically kept Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu separate. Disney executives have long felt consumers will share a lower price for a more tailored experience.<\/p>\n

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav may want to raise the price for a combined HBO Max-Discovery+ offering, especially as competitors Disney and Netflix have recently raised prices. Eliminating little watched content, while adding a slew of new Discovery + content, could help justify the increase.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

HBO Max announced the following series will be removed this week:<\/p>\n

12 Dates of Christmas<\/em><\/p>\n

About Last Night<\/em><\/p>\n

Aquaman: King of Atlantis<\/em><\/p>\n

Close Enough<\/em><\/p>\n

Detention Adventure<\/em><\/p>\n

dodo<\/em><\/p>\n

Ellen’s Next Great Designer<\/em><\/p>\n

Elliott From Earth<\/em><\/p>\n

Esme & Roy<\/em><\/p>\n

The Fungies! <\/em><\/p>\n

Generation Hustle <\/em><\/p>\n

Genera+ion<\/em><\/p>\n

Infinity Train<\/em><\/p>\n

Little Ellen <\/em><\/p>\n

Mao Mao, Heroes of Pure Heart<\/em><\/p>\n

Messy Goes to Okido<\/em><\/p>\n

Mia’s Magic Playground<\/em><\/p>\n

Mighty Magiswords<\/em><\/p>\n

My Dinner with Herve<\/em><\/p>\n

My Mom, Your Dad<\/em><\/p>\n

odo<\/em><\/p>\n

OK KO! – Let’s Be Heroes<\/em><\/p>\n

The Ollie & Moon Show<\/em><\/p>\n

Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures<\/em><\/p>\n

Ravi Patel’s Pursuit of Happiness<\/em><\/p>\n

Select Sesame Street Specials <\/em><\/p>\n

Make It Big, Make It Small<\/em><\/p>\n

Share<\/em><\/p>\n

squish<\/em><\/p>\n

Summer Camp Island<\/em><\/p>\n

The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo <\/em><\/p>\n

The Runaway Bunny – Special<\/em><\/p>\n

theodosia<\/em><\/p>\n

Tig n’ Seek <\/em><\/p>\n

Uncle Grandpa<\/em><\/p>\n

Victor and Valentino<\/em><\/p>\n

Yabba Dabba Dinosaurs<\/em><\/p>\n

WATCH: Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav speaks to CNBC about his strategy<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Warner Bros. Discovery’s HBO Max is removing 36 movies and TV series from its platform. There are three main reasons why it’s happening. The films and series \u2212 which include 20 original HBO Max shows such as teen drama “Generation,” and “Sesame Street” spinoff “The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo” \u2212 will be removed by end …<\/p>\n

Here’s why HBO Max is pulling dozens of films and TV series<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[5],"tags":[330,3881,1323,325,3737],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":50503,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/hbo-max-abruptly-pulls-200-sesame-street-episodes\/","url_meta":{"origin":50198,"position":0},"title":"HBO Max abruptly pulls 200 Sesame Street episodes","date":"August 19, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"In potentially devastating news for kids and parents, about 200 episodes of Sesame Street have been removed from HBO Max, variety reports. Many of the dropped episodes are from the show's earliest seasons, and the number of Sesame Street episodes on the service has fallen from around 650 to 456,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Entertainment"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":35715,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/the-merging-streaming-services-explained\/","url_meta":{"origin":50198,"position":1},"title":"The merging streaming services, explained","date":"August 4, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"What the heck is going on at HBO Max? What does it have to do with Discovery+?HBO Max, the home of prestigious HBO TV shows, Warner Bros. and DC Comics films, along with original series like \"Sex and the City\" revival \"And Just Like That,\" is going through some major\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Entertainment"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2022\/07\/12\/USAT\/730686b7-422d-4b92-83fa-5b9928bbf357-gilligans_island.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":46261,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/hbo-max-cuts-14-of-staff-mainly-in-casting-acquisitions-and-reality-tv\/","url_meta":{"origin":50198,"position":2},"title":"HBO Max cuts 14% of staff mainly in casting, acquisitions and reality TV","date":"August 15, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"David Zaslav, President and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery talks to the media as he arrives at the Sun Valley Resort for the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference on July 05, 2022 in Sun Valley, Idaho.Kevin Dietsch | Getty ImagesWarner Bros. Discovery is eliminated 70 jobs at HBO Max,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Entertainment"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":46746,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/warner-bros-discovery-to-lay-off-70-staffers-in-hbo-restructure\/","url_meta":{"origin":50198,"position":3},"title":"Warner Bros. Discovery to lay off 70 staffers in HBO restructure","date":"August 16, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"HBO Maxphoto: HBOAs it continues its attempts to recoup the $3.4 billion in losses from last quarter, Warner Bros. Discovery has been doing everything from scrapping finished movies to coining new stereotypes like \u201cwomen like genredoms\u201d While those were all upsetting to many, particularly the people working on that Batgirl\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Entertainment"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":57609,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/warner-bros-leak-breaks-down-hbo-discoverys-dramatically-different-audiences\/","url_meta":{"origin":50198,"position":4},"title":"Warner Bros. Leak Breaks Down HBO, Discovery’s Dramatically Different Audiences","date":"August 27, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"A graphic leaked from within Warner Bros. breaks down the differences between HBO Max and Discovery+'s audiences. As reported by The Daily Beast, an internal graphic revealed that HBO Max audiences are vastly different from the typical Discovery+ user. Analysis of the leaked document suggests that Warner Bros. Discovery may\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Entertainment"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":35690,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/hbo-maxs-death-may-be-exaggerated-discovery-plus-merger-coming-summer-2023\/","url_meta":{"origin":50198,"position":5},"title":"HBO Max’s death may be exaggerated \u2014 Discovery Plus merger coming summer 2023","date":"August 4, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"If you love HBO Max like we do, you've probably been quite stressed. This week has seen a nightmare situation emerge for the HBO Max and Discovery Plus merger. But in the Warner Bros. Discovery Q2 Earnings Call today (Thursday, Aug. 4), we got reason for measured optimism.Editor's note: This\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Entertainment"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/image.cnbcfm.com\/api\/v1\/image\/102173143-IMG_00381.jpg?v=1415712047&w=1920&h=1080","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50198"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50198"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50198\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}