Categories
News

Max’s Live News and Live Sports Strategy To Become Clearer Soon

This post may contain affiliate links and we may earn a commission. Learn more

Warner Bros. Discovery’s plan to offer live news and sports through its Max streaming service will become clearer soon, according to the company’s Chief Executive, David Zaslav.

Advertisement

The idea that Max (and HBO Max before it) might start offering live programming is not new. While it has remained unclear how far away the integration of live content might be, it looks like WBD is getting closer to making that integration official.

During the company’s Q2 earnings call earlier today, Zaslav first explained how Max “now has full capability to deliver live programming,” and added how “we’ll have more to say about that soon.”

Advertisement

Later in the same call, Zaslav made clear how “news and sports are important,” how “they’re differentiators” are how they make “platforms come alive.” Again, Zaslav explained that “you will hear from us on that soon.”

While WBD didn’t provide any clear indication on when subscribers can expect live news and sports to arrive on Max, the takeaway from the earnings call was that the company has so far been preoccupied with the launch of Max. Now that Max has launched, it would appear that Warner Bros. Discovery is ready to turn its attention to adding live sports.

Considering Max already has “full capability to deliver live programming,” and that the company owns “the digital rights to our sports,” it would seem likely that live programming will come sooner rather than later.

Advertisement

Warner Bros. Discovery’s Q2 results in general noted a decline in the number of global direct-to-consumers. WBD reported a total of 95.8 million subscribers, and this represented a drop of 1.8 million when compared to the previous quarter, albeit an increase on the second quarter of the year before.

While not directly attributed to it, the launch of Max was expected to have some impact on the number of subscribers, due to the overlap in content now between Max and Discovery Plus, and the decreased need for homes to remain subscribed to both services at the same time.

John Finn

By John Finn

John started Streaming Better to help consumers navigate the live TV streaming and subscription service landscape. John has been editing and writing about technology and streaming for online publications since 2014, and believes the best streaming approach is to rotate between services as needed.

John's preferred live TV streaming service right now is YouTube TV although he does tend to switch live TV services multiple times each year to keep up to date with their changes. Outside of live TV, John also actively streams HBO Max (for the shows), Peacock (for Premier League), and Paramount Plus (for Champion's League). However, John is also currently subscribed to Apple TV+, Discovery+, Hulu, Starz, Showtime, and Shudder.

Contact John via email at john@streamingbetter.com or say hi on Twitter

Leave a Reply

Streaming can be frustrating but please be respectful and avoid personal information. All comments are moderated according to our comment policy.

Advertisement