Another day, another new streaming service. It seems as if there isn’t a single telecom company, tech firm, or media company that hasn’t launched its own streaming service yet. Can you blame them? Viewers are abandoning traditional pay TV faster than Billy Zane’s character abandoned the Titanic, and the size of the streaming market is growing exponentially. It makes sense, then, that massive media media and entertainment conglomerate WarnerMedia would try to get its huge catalog of properties into the streaming world as quickly as possible. While the new WarnerMedia streaming service has been in talks for some time, new details about its expected price came out this week that may not spell instant success for the company.
The new and still untitled WarnerMedia streaming service will be bundled with HBO and Cinemax and include Warner’s impressive library which includes formidable franchises like the DC Comics universe, Adult Swim, Turner Classic Movies, Hanna-Barbera, the Harry Potter franchise, MGM, New Line Cinema, and more. HBO and Cinemax aside, those titles alone should already mean that the new streaming service should pull in its fair share of subscribers, but, as we all know, in the streaming world, price is king – and this is one expensive streaming service.
According to a report published by Variety this week, WarnerMedia’s new streaming service will cost somewhere between $16 and $17, making it one of the most expensive video-on-demand subscriptions. Netflix starts at $9/month, Hulu with ads starts at $6 per month, Amazon Prime is $13/month, and even the eagerly-anticipated Disney+ will be just $7 a month. Will subscribers pay that price for a new, unproven streaming service?
HBO Now may be the key to answering that question. If you’re already paying $14.99/month for HBO Now, why not pay a few dollars more to get access to WarnerMedia’s massive collection of libraries and franchises?
The streaming service has not yet announced a release date, but is expected to launch a beta version later this year.
