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Warner Bros. Discovery promises Max will be a more personalized, technically improved streaming service

With next month’s arrival of the new streaming service “Max” from Warner Bros. Discovery, the company is also promising a revamped product experience with an expanded feature set, improved recommendations and better performance. The new service, which combines HBO Max and Discovery+ content into one offering, will gain an updated user interface that’s delivered by way of a largely seamless transition for existing HBO Max subscribers across most platforms.
However, Discovery+ subscribers will be able to continue to watch in their standalone app, if they choose, the company noted during today’s press event where it introduced the new service and its many forthcoming originals, including a new Game of Thrones series.
Of particular interest, the company openly admitted that its current HBO Max service has a number of technical shortcomings that it now aims to address with the move to Max.
“As we started this journey 12 months ago, we did a thorough assessment of our two streaming businesses, as well as the technology and products of each. And we realized that, while both were solid, they also each had important shortcomings,” said JB Perrette, CEO and president of global streaming and games, while speaking to the gathered crowd.
“In summary, we needed to do the basics much better,” he said, before spinning his mea culpa into an odd form of praise by adding, “if we got this far with some suboptimal features and experiences, imagine what we will do when we get more of it right!”
That’s certainly an interesting way to sell things, we’d say.
Perrette said the new Max service would address several key business objectives, including user engagement, retention, more regular viewership and easier, more personalized discovery of the content offerings, to name a few.

Warner Bros. Discovery to launch ‘Max’ service starting at $9.99/mo on May 23

Though the company had announced an expanded slate of new original programming earlier in the event, including new series like Big Bang Theory and True Detective spinoffs, a live-action Harry Potter, DC Comics titles like “The Penguin,” and others, the exec also acknowledged that the product itself has to do a better job at surfacing its content for subscribers.
“HBO Max has an amazing depth of content, but it’s largely unexplored because we don’t make it easy enough to find,” he said. As an example of this problem, he noted that three-quarters of its viewership came from the home screen only, while on Discovery+ the majority of usage came from other screens deeper in the app. In addition, four times as much content drives the majority of viewership on Discovery+ than on HBO Max.
Image Credits: Warner Bros. Discovery
One might argue that’s because of the nature of the programming on the respective services, where Discovery+’s lifestyle content drives repeated viewing, perhaps, compared with flagship series like “Game of Thrones” that are viewed in real time, but are not necessarily the types of shows to be rediscovered later and then rewatched. However, the company is betting that product changes will be able to improve these metrics around discoverability.
For starters, the revamped app will feature a new content navigation menu at the top that will help consumers more easily find the series and movies, as well as the new releases they may want to watch. Across the app, the company promises streamlined categories, improved content detail pages, shortcuts, dedicated brand hubs and thematic content rails, to make the app easier to explore.
HBO’s brand will still have a prominent position in this new interface, too, but will be showcased alongside the company’s other top brands that will serve as gateways to their respective content.
There will also be genre hubs to dive into different types of content and a new quick shortcut that lets users save content to a list for later viewing.
For users on the new Ultimate Ad-Free tier, the service will feature an expanded catalog of 4K UHD content, including across programming like “Game of Thrones,” “The Last of Us,” “Harry Potter,” “Lord of the Rings,” “The Dark Night” trilogy and others. This catalog will expand to include all the Warner Bros. movies released this year and in the future.
Image Credits: Warner Bros. Discovery
Plus, individual user profiles will for the first time offer more personalized experiences where users are recommended new things to watch based on their prior habits and viewing, via things like “because you watched” recommendations, suggestions of what to watch next that appear when you finish a series or movie and immersive hero images tailored to the end user. This personalized experience will extend beyond the home page, too, so users are seeing tailored recommendations across the full service.
A combination of machine learning and human editorial curation will help to drive these recommendations, Perrette explained.
Parents will be able to configure their kids’ profiles, including through the use of parental controls. While that’s not new, the revamped Max will introduce a default kids profile for its new subscribers, with options for parents to set the profile to either little kids, big kids, big kids plus, pre-teens or teens — an expanded set of kids’ tiers that goes beyond those offered by some rival services, where the “kids” experience is often aimed at younger school-age children. This tends to frustrate older kids, and teens when they outgrow cartoons and other “kids” content, but aren’t yet old enough for more adult fare, like much of what HBO offers.
Under the hood, the company touted other technological improvements focused on user retention, performance and stability.
For example, Max will proactively alert customers about failed payments through notifications and on and off-product messages, including for the first time in-app alerts on connected TVs. It also added support for PayPal as another payment option and made it easier for its marketing teams to run promotional pricing without requiring weeks of engineering work.
Image Credits: Warner Bros. Discovery
The company additionally promised updates to its core architecture to deliver “faster, more reliable, and more efficient performance.” Among the changes, Max will offer a new connected TV sign-in process where users don’t have to type in their credentials with their remote and a more dependable downloads experience.
“…We maniacally focused on app performance to get our customers watching their content as fast as possible,” Perrette said. “So app start times, video start times, and the general navigation response times will be 20 to 30% faster, depending on which device you’re using.”
The exec said HBO Max app customers will be automatically updated to Max on May 23 when the shift is made. On most platforms, this update will happen automatically, but others will prompt users who open the HBO Max app to download the new Max app instead. It will then only be “two clicks” to continue watching, Perrette noted, as usernames, passwords, profiles, watch histories, watch rails and billing will carry over automatically. Discovery+ subscribers won’t be forced to transition apps but will be prompted at different times to try the new Max app.
Image Credits: Warner Bros. Discovery
The new service will offer three pricing tiers, starting at $9.99 per month for ad-supported, $15.99 per month to go ad-free and $19.99 per month for ad-free viewing with 4K UHD and Dolby Atmos. The latter two tiers also include offline downloads but are limited to either 30 or 100 downloads, respectively. The top-tier service also includes four concurrent streams instead of just two.

‘Game of Thrones’ fans are getting a new spinoff based on characters Dunk and Egg

 
Warner Bros. Discovery promises Max will be a more personalized, technically improved streaming service by Sarah Perez originally published on TechCrunch
Warner Bros. Discovery promises Max will be a more personalized, technically improved streaming service

Lawmakers ask Department of Justice to investigate Warner Bros. Discovery merger

Four Democratic lawmakers have written to the Department of Justice to investigate Warner Bros. Discovery and launch an inquiry into alleged anti-competitive behavior. Democratic representatives Elizabeth Warren, Pramila Jayapal, David Cicilline and Joaquin Castro wrote that the merged company has harmed workers and reduced consumer choice. Warner Bros. Discovery was formed after WarnerMedia merged with Discovery Inc. in April 2022.
“We respectfully urge the Justice Department to investigate the state of competition in affected labor and consumer markets following consummation of this merger, which appears to have enabled Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) to adopt potentially anticompetitive practices that reduce consumer choice and harm workers in affected labor markets,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter.
Warner Bros. Discovery did not respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment.
The lawmakers argue that Warner Bros. Discovery’s new ownership is “hollowing out an iconic American studio.” The letter outlines that many projects were cancelled by Warner Bros. Discovery not long after the merger, including “Batgirl,” which was canceled even though filming for the movie had already been completed. The letter also refers to the cancellation of popular shows like “Gordita Chronicles” and “The Time Traveler’s Wife.”
In addition, the lawmakers note that Primetime Emmy Award winner J. J. Abrams is now shopping elsewhere for a home for his TV show “Demimonde” which was initially picked up by HBO and then canceled before production began on the project.
The letter notes that consumers will likely never be able to watch shows purchased then cancelled by the company, and that Warner Bros. Discovery’s conduct amounts to a “catch and kill” practice that limits consumer choice.
The lawmakers also outline that the company’s actions are leaving workers with fewer choices for employment and advancement.
“Shortly after the merger was finalized, WBD began realizing a number of cost synergies that were used to justify the merger in the first place—including cuts to hundreds of jobs for working people,” the letter reads. “First, WBD cut the streaming platform CNN+. The CNN+ cut affected about 350 employees, and four months later, CNN laid off an additional 400 employees. WBD also enacted 100 layoffs in its company’s ad sales department as another cost-cutting effort related to the merger. In total, the aforementioned cuts affected thousands of people. Notably, WBD still has $3.5 billion in planned cuts—which does not bode well for workers.”
The letter ends by asking the Department of Justice to take another look at the transaction and take into consideration the actions that the company has taken since the merger was finalized a year ago. The lawmakers write that they hope the guidelines for the merger are updated to ensure they reflect the needs of workers, consumers and content creators in the media and entertainment industry.
The letter comes as Warner Bros. Discovery is expected to hold a press event sometime this week regarding its new direct-to-consumer streaming plan.

Warner Bros. Discovery continues to lose money despite success of ‘The Last of Us’ and ‘Hogwarts Legacy’

Lawmakers ask Department of Justice to investigate Warner Bros. Discovery merger by Aisha Malik originally published on TechCrunch
Lawmakers ask Department of Justice to investigate Warner Bros. Discovery merger

T-Mobile to provide free MLB.TV subscriptions to customers through 2028

T-Mobile announced today that it has extended its partnership with Major League Baseball to allow its customers to continue receiving free MLB.TV subscriptions through 2028. An MLB.TV subscription typically costs $150 per year. The extended partnership comes as T-Mobile has offered MLB.TV as a free perk for its customers for the past eight years. MLB.TV lets you stream out-of-market home and away games live or on demand. The service also gives subscribers access to pregame and postgame shows. T-Mobile notes that for the first time, MLB.TV now also provides fans with access to their favorite team’s affiliates’ games in the MLB app. Fans can catch games on their favorite supported devices and enjoy live game DVR controls to pause and rewind the action in HD.
“T-Mobile and MLB are embarking on a six-year journey to deliver breakthrough fan experiences, and it’s all thanks to our leading 5G network,” said T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert in a press release. “We’re enhancing the game on and off the field to give fans across the country even more ways to enjoy the game we all love — on top of showing our customers love with free MLB.TV.”
It’s worth noting that the deadline for this year’s free signup period for MLB.TV has already passed, unfortunately, as the last day to sign up was April 4. T-Mobile notes that more customers redeemed their free MLB.TV subscription this year than ever before.
T-Mobile also announced that it will work with the MLB to test an automated ball-strike system (ABS) powered by the company’s private 5G network during some Minor League games. The carrier says real-time ABS data and video will be transmitted securely to help prevent signal interference via devices and the ABS application.

Here’s how to stream Major League Baseball games in 2023

T-Mobile to provide free MLB.TV subscriptions to customers through 2028 by Aisha Malik originally published on TechCrunch
T-Mobile to provide free MLB.TV subscriptions to customers through 2028

Netflix restructures its film units, aiming to make fewer (but better) original movies

Netflix is restructuring its film units and vowing to make fewer but better movies, according to a new report from Bloomberg, which Netflix partially confirmed. The report said the streaming giant is combining film units that produce small and midsize films, resulting in a handful of layoffs, including two longtime executives. Netflix told TechCrunch that these changes were made to simplify its structure and set it up for the next phase of its growth, but declined to comment on how many people were being let go.
Scott Stuber, chairman of Netflix Film, has been looking to scale back the company’s output of films to ensure that more of them are high quality, according to the report.
It appears that this change has already been implemented, as the report comes as Netflix recently revealed its 2023 original films lineup, which consists of 49 titles. In comparison, the company had 85 original films in its lineup last year. For context, a Netflix original refers to both the content that has been produced in-house and the content to which it owns the distribution rights. It’s unclear for now if Netflix would also be scaling back the addition of originals that it didn’t produce, but obtained the rights to — a move that would impact the output of new originals on the service.
One of the executives leaving the company is Lisa Nishimura, who was behind the company’s foray into standup comedy and original documentaries, Netflix confirmed. Nishimura had worked on some of Netflix’s most popular titles, including “Making a Murderer,” “Power of the Dog” and “Tiger King.”
Ian Bricke, who served as the vice president of Independent Original Film at Netflix, will also be leaving. Bricke played a big part of Netflix’s dominance in the rom-com space, as he spearheaded notable titles like “The Kissing Booth,” “Set It Up” and “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before.”
“Lisa Nishimura joined Netflix in the DVD days, and as the company moved into streaming, she built our original documentary and stand-up comedy divisions from the ground up, and established Netflix as a powerhouse in both spaces,” Stuber said in an emailed statement. “Ian Bricke has been at the company for more than a decade, building and leading our independent film team, attracting filmmakers like Tamara Jenkins, Nicole Holofcener, and Mark and Jay Duplass. We thank them both for their contributions to making us a world-class film studio and wish them the best for the future.”
The handful of layoffs come after Netflix conducted a series of job cuts last year. In May 2022, the company laid off approximately 150 staffers. A month after that, the company laid off 300 more people, which represented 3% of its workforce at the time. Netflix then laid off another 30 employees in September who were part of its animation department.
On the editorial side, Netflix laid off 25 people on its editorial staff just five months after launching its in-house Tudum publication.
Earlier this year, Netflix boasted to shareholders it has successfully scaled its decade-long original programming initiative.
“Now that we are a decade into our original programming initiative and have successfully scaled it, we are past the most cash-intensive phase of this buildout,” the company wrote to shareholders. “As a result, we believe we will now be generating sustained, positive annual free cash flow going forward.”
Netflix is scheduled to report Q1 2023 results on April 18.

Netflix appears to be working to bring games to TV with the iPhone as a controller

Netflix restructures its film units, aiming to make fewer (but better) original movies by Aisha Malik originally published on TechCrunch
Netflix restructures its film units, aiming to make fewer (but better) original movies

Amazon expands Fire TV lineup with more QLED models, entry-level 2-Series TVs and new markets

As competition among smart TV makers heats up, Amazon today is introducing an expanded Fire TV lineup which now includes more sizes for its top-of-the-line Omni QLED series as well as a new, lower-cost Fire TV 2-Series that will start at $199.99. The company is also bringing its TVs to new markets globally, updating some features — like the Omni QLED’s “ambient” mode — and will roll out its cloud gaming service Luna to countries outside the U.S. for the first time.
Amazon first announced its Omni QLED TVs last fall as a way to bring better picture quality to customers with a 4K QLED display. The sets, which initially shipped in both 65-inch ($799.99) and 75-inch ($1,099.99) sizes, were the first Amazon Fire TVs to ship with Dolby Vision IQ. They also support HDR 10+ Adaptive and Adaptive Brightness, which adjusts the picture brightness and contrast based on the room’s brightness.

Amazon updates its Fire TV lineup with a new Fire TV Cube, QLED TVs and Alexa Voice Remote Pro

Now, the company is expanding its QLED lineup with three new models starting at $449.99, in 43-inch, 50-inch and 55-inch sizes. Like their larger counterparts, these will still include QLED displays with up to 96 dimming zones and the sensor-driven “Ambient Experience” features.
The TVs ship with a custom sensor package on the front that includes a presence sensor that allows the TV to turn its “Ambient Experience” on or off based on whether someone has entered or left the room thanks to an ambient light sensor that helps the TV understand the context of the movement. That is, if you just walked past the TV to get a midnight snack it may remain off, but if you walk into the room in the morning, it may load the ambient experience to help you start your day.
Image Credits: Amazon
The experience includes a free package of artwork and photography and various Alexa widgets that can be displayed either compacted or expanded, delivering things like news and headlines, your calendar, notes and reminders, streaming recommendations and more.
Now, Amazon says the experience is being updated with new art, too. Specifically, it’s adding something it’s calling “dynamic art,” or art that adapts to the current environment. The art will change based on factors like the time of day, temperature, weather and more. Initially, Amazon is working with contemporary artist Samuel Stubblefield to create the dynamic art package.
“We want to make smart TVs that are actually smart. That means things like bringing together content usefully…but we also want them to be beautiful and useful throughout more parts of the day and infused with ambient intelligence to make them more powerful for customers,” noted Daniel Rausch, VP of Entertainment Devices & Services at Amazon, in a conversation about the new Fire TV products.
Image Credits: Amazon (Fire TV Omni QLED Series)
These newly added QLED models will become available for preorder today and ship on May 11. The 43″ will be $449.99; the 50″ is $529.99; and the 55″ is $599.99.
Amazon is also now introducing a new line of more affordable Fire TVs, dubbed the Fire TV 2-Series, which slots in below the existing QLED and 4-Series. These will ship in two models to start: 32-inch ($199.99) and 40-inch ($249.99) options in HD. The 2-Series lineup supports HDR 10, HLG and Dolby Digital Audio and comes with an Alexa Voice remote.
Image Credits: Amazon (Fire TV 2-Series)
These models can be ordered now and start shipping today.
In addition, Amazon says it will now begin to ship its Omni QLED Series, 4-Series and new 2-Series in the U.K., Germany and Mexico for the first time.
Rausch says the company has now sold more than 200 million Fire TV devices worldwide, including TVs and media players, and has shipped over 260 Fire TV models with its partners, like TCL, Hisense, Yamada, Xiaomi and others. As TV sets themselves become more powerful, many consumers are now opting to buy a TV with Fire TV baked in, rather than as a streaming player add-on. This has resulted in TVs becoming the fastest-growing part of the Fire TV business, he notes.
Image Credits: Amazon (Luna)
Alongside the TV expansion, the company will also bring its Luna cloud gaming service to new markets outside the U.S. for the first time.
Designed to work with Fire TV, Luna offers Prime customers a rotating selection of monthly games that can be streamed and played using a Bluetooth controller like Amazon’s Luna Controller, or even with a smartphone through a companion app.
Luna customers can optionally choose to subscribe to premium packages, like Luna+, Ubisoft+ and Jackbox Games. Luna+ includes a broad selection of games like action, adventure, platformer, indie, shooter, racing and classic games for $9.99 per month. The Ubisoft+ subscription, meanwhile, features top titles and fan favorites like Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry for $17.99 per month. And Jackbox Games offers a party gaming set for $4.99 per month.
The service has been generally available in the U.S. for over a year and is now coming to the U.K., Germany and Canada, Amazon says, which will allow it to reach some of the new Fire TV markets.

Roku unveils its first-ever TVs designed and built by the company

Amazon isn’t alone in targeting consumers with TVs running its own OS — rival Roku in January revealed its first-ever TVs designed and built by the company. But neither effort is meant to preclude the companies from working with partners — it’s more of a way to demonstrate what’s possible from the company’s own software and specs while generating additional revenue from hardware sales.
Amazon expands Fire TV lineup with more QLED models, entry-level 2-Series TVs and new markets by Sarah Perez originally published on TechCrunch
Amazon expands Fire TV lineup with more QLED models, entry-level 2-Series TVs and new markets