NZ context/perspective on the development of streaming services

On Friday (5/08/2022), the newly merged Warner Bros Discovery announced it would be combining its streaming services – that’s HBO Max and Discovery+ – and taking those brands global. 

The new service isn’t just going to be full of HBO content. It includes all Warner Bros movies, plus every piece of content from Sony Pictures, DC and Discovery+.

Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Bad Robot, Comedy Central and The CW

Netflix is overloading viewers with increasingly dire options, cutting back on account sharing and introducing ads as it pares back costs in the face of  declining subscriber numbers. Cashed-up competitors are taking wild swings, like Amazon Prime Video’s mega-budget Lord of the Rings series, or Disney+ bringing back Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi. Apple TV+ is spending gazillions and winning Emmys, yet I still don’t know anyone who pays actual money for it.

Sky has had exclusive New Zealand streaming rights to HBO’s vast library of content, and has built several channels – including its popular and premium SoHo brand, as well as its streaming service Neon – around them. The fact that Neon’s about to raise its prices to $17.99 a month, or $179.99 a year, is almost certainly tied to the viewership bump it’s about to get because of House of the Dragon.

If a new-look streaming service lands in Aotearoa in 2024 stacked full of HBO content, it’s hard to see a world in which Sky TV is allowed to continue streaming any of those shows. (Sky TV didn’t respond to a request for comment, but The Spinoff understands its contract with Warner Bros ends next year). It would leave its channel packages and its streaming service looking decidedly empty, a gaping hole that it would struggle to fill.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Sky TV said: “Sky has deep, long term and multifaceted partnerships with both of the now merged entities. Our current deal with Warner Bros. Discovery gives us exclusive access to HBO content in New Zealand and there are plenty of conversations to be had before New Zealand’s future content deals are determined. Yes, HBO has some terrific shows, but Sky is a curator of fantastic entertainment, with over 530 different content partnerships in place to deliver premium content to our customers. Recent hits from studios other than HBO include The Handmaid’s Tale, Love Island, Yellowjackets and Yellowstone.”