In a new landmark announcement, thanks to the LATimes, WarnerMedia and Discovery are merging. What exactly does that mean going forward for the two mega-companies? Well, HBO Max is notably behind in streaming numbers in comparison to Disney and other streaming giants. Their management has been, suspect, to say the least. Whether it’s various agreements that make the consumer happy (putting all of WarnerMedia’s movies on the service for 2021) or others that are less notable, but impact the consumer. These changes either pissed off the content creators or made it a less viable consumer product.

Now, with Discovery’s CEO taking over operations, they have an industry veteran to guide the ship. The deal is worth a reported $43 billion. Now AT&T can focus on their cell phone network, with Discovery handling the operations of WarnerMedia. This means that the old guard who handled (and fumbled) things like the SnyderVerse aren’t going to be in as big of positions of power.

AT&T caused friction at HBO and HBO Max due to intense pushes to create content. HBO has a certain allure as a brand to people that doesn’t scream “we put stuff out before it’s ready”. They wanted to rival Disney+ and Netflix, but those two streamers have such a massive built-in base of subscribers, that it wouldn’t be possible in such a short time period.

What Does This Mean Going Forward?

Well It likely means that HBO Max and Discovery+ are going to have a bundle or some sort of infusion. So for subscribers of both services, you’ll likely be getting some extra content, unless they go the way of Disney, and make a bundle. This ends a period of massive upheaval for AT&T. Growing pains in the media sphere led to this decision.

Hopefully this means that HBO Max and WarnerMedia can reach their full potential. With one of the biggest libraries of film and TV shows, HBO Max is a fantastic streaming service. It just needs that extra guidance and push. This merger is likely to do that.

So, what do you think of this merger? It’s not likely to go through until 2022, though.

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Source: LATimes