It looks like the race to compete with Netflix is on and has intensified after the well-received Disney+ presentation during Disney’s Investors Day last week, Disney’s stock jumped an impressive 10% after the run through of what they’ll be offering at launch on November 12th.
Today, WarnerMedia announced their own plans to launch a rival streaming service by the end of 2019. The news came from the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit in Los Angeles via Variety, where WarnerMedia CEO John Stankey stated they’ll mine their library and content engines to create a new direct to consumer streaming service, not unlike Disney+.
WarnerMedia CEO John Stankey unveiled the plan Wednesday during his address at the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit in Los Angeles. Stankey said the company will mine its library and content engines to create such a service by the end of 2019.
The lovely news is that HBO content such as Game of Thrones, The Wire, Sopranos, and Westworld will be involved and a hint that other materials from the WarnerMedia family, I would assume that would mean films as well.
The new platform will be fronted by HBO, with content from additional WarnerMedia brands bundled around that premium cable service, Stankey said.
“This is another benefit of the AT&T/Time Warner merger, and we are committed to launching a compelling and competitive product that will serve as a complement to our existing businesses and help us to expand our reach by offering a new choice for entertainment with the WarnerMedia collection of films, television series, libraries, documentaries and animation,” Stankey said in an announcement released ahead of the summit.
A huge draw could be Warner’s massive film library which would become a major reason to sign-up for a subscription. They have plenty of franchises such as the Harry Potter and DC Comics cinematic universe along with their partnership with Legendary Entertainment for stuff like Detective Pikachu, Godzilla/Kong films, Tomb Raider, and the upcoming science fiction fantasy franchise Dune from director Denis Villeneuve.
The New Line Cinema library would also factor into things which would include Peter Jackson’s Lord of The Rings and Hobbit trilogies. Not to mention, their endless horror film lineup that includes IT and James Wan’s Conjuring universe (Annabelle, The Nun, The Conjuring).
A price hasn’t been set, but we only just learned about Disney+ monthly subscription starting at $6.99 U.S. or $69.99 U.S. for a year subscription. I think what you’ll see is that WarnerMedia will attempt to price match with an upstart like Disney+, rather than trying to ask for a price closer to Netflix.
SOURCE: WARNERMEDIA
