Roku and Tubi will soon be the new streaming home of various movies and shows that were recently removed from HBO Max. The free, ad-supported market has been booming over the past few years and while some companies have looked to get in on the action through the launch of free tiers, others have opted to license out their content to free services.
The latter of which is now the case here with Warner Bros. Discovery. In general, HBO Max has been making some changes of late in a bid to increase revenue. For example, and shortly before increasing the cost of the ad-free plan by $1, HBO Max removed a number of shows from its library with a view to striking licensing agreements with other streaming services.
While it was unclear at the time as to where those titles would end up, that’s now been explained – they are on their way to The Roku Channel and Tubi. In separate announcements, both Roku and Tubi confirmed it had struck a deal with Warner Bros. Discovery to offer hours of content for free.
The deals will see shows including Westworld, The Bachelor, Cake Boss, Say Yes to the Dress, and F-Boy Island becoming available to watch via free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channels. While Roku’s announcement did not explain exactly when the new channels would go live, it did confirm that they will be available through The Roku Channel in the spring of 2023.
In total there will be three main Warner Bros. Discovery channels available. These will be branded as WB TV Family, WB TV Reality, and WB TV Series, and will continuously play content from the various shows. According to Variety, a number of additional FAST channels will also be available to watch through Tubi. These additional channels will be branded as:
- WB TV All Together
- WB TV At the Movies
- WB TV Crime Series
- WB TV Family Rules
- WB TV How To
- WB TV Keeping It Real
- WB TV Love & Marriage
- WB TV Mysteries
- WB TV Paws & Claws
- WB TV Slice of Life
- WB TV Sweet Escapes
- WB TV Supernatural
- WB TV Welcome Home
In addition to the various FAST channels, both The Roku Channel and Tubi will also be making around 2000 hours of content available to stream on demand. The catalog of on demand content will include movies and shows from HBO, HBO Max, Discovery Channel, HGTV, Food Network, TLC, and Warner Bros.
Overall, this is a deal that’s likely to be highly benefical to all parties involved. From Roku and Tubi’s perspectives, their free services are gaining access to a variety of popular shows and content. From Warner Bros. Discovery’s side, the company will be able to put its content in front of more viewers, and especially those that are not currently willing to pay the monthly asking price for HBO Max.
The only group that’s really losing out here are those that are paying for ad-free HBO Max. Not only have they lost access to some popular shows that were previously available with their paid subscription, but they will now have to sit through ads while watching them.
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