Warner Bros. Discovery Streaming Strategy: Europe vs. MENA
Warner Bros. Discovery Streaming Strategy: Europe vs. MENA
Direct-to-Consumer or Distribution?
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Today’s program
Warner Bros. Discovery’s (WBD) Max streaming service has recently expanded to 25 countries across Europe, including its launch in France on June 11th.
A perfect opportunity to analyze and understand the different strategies between two key regions: Europe and MENA.
Max in Europe
WBD streaming strategy in MENA
So what?
And… Action!
Max in Europe
Let's begin with some key launch dates.
Max initially launched as HBO Max in the United States on May 27, 2020. The “enhanced service” went live on May 23, 2023.
In Europe, HBO Max started in 2021, with the Max upgrade becoming available in its first European countries starting this May.
Subscribers in Iberia, the Nordics, and Central and Eastern Europe were the first to access the expanded streaming content offering.
On June 11th, Max launched in France, Poland, Monaco, and the Netherlands. As of today, July 1st, they have completed their European rollout with the launch in Belgium.
Why is the timing good?
House of The Dragon season 2 just released on June 17th, exclusively on Max.
The Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games will start on July 26th, also exclusively on Max.
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Here's an interesting map shared by Dataxis for their CTV Ad Days Europe, showing the footprint of Max in Europe:
Let’s now focus on Max in France: the 3 main subscriptions and a quick overview of the content available:
Basic With Ads
€5,99/month
Stream on 2 devices at once
Full HD video resolution
Standard
€9,99/month
Stream on 2 devices at once
Full HD video resolution
30 downloads
Includes Warner TV, TCM Cinéma & more
Premium
€13,99/month
Stream on 4 devices at once
4K UHD & Dolby Atmos as available
100 downloads (limits apply)
Includes Warner TV, TCM Cinéma & more
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The homepage highlights 2 sections for Max: HBO and Sports.
Three carousels are also particularly interesting:
House of the biggest Hits, including titles such as Game of Thrones, Rick and Morty, His Dark Materials, The Last of Us, Black Adams, True Detective, Friends, Succession, Chernobyl, Rome, Last Week Tonight, Band of Brothers, The White Lotus, Euphoria, Joker, Matrix, Milf of Norway, Mare of Easttown, Inception, Big Little Lies.
Not bad, don’t you think?
Another carousel I find appealing is the Brand Spotlight carousel, which showcases WBD brands:
HBO
Max originals
ID
DC
TLC
Adult Swim
Discovery
Harry Potter
Kids & Family
Cartoon Network
A final carousel I would like to highlight today, which also has its own page, is Made in France, confirming Warner Bros. Discovery localization efforts.
I assume other countries have their own sections as well, but this needs to be confirmed.
I’ll wrap up this first analysis with an overview of the sports section.
Here are the sports available on Max in France:
Alpine Skiing, Curling, Equestrian, Handball, Nordic Combined, Roller Skating, Snowboard, Surfing, Triathlon, Biathlon, Cycling, Fencing, Judo, Olympic Games, Sailing, Soccer, Tennis, BMX, Cycling Track, Figure Skating, Karate, One Make Racing, Scooter, Speed Skating, Teqball, Breaking, Cyclo-cross, Formula E, Moto Racing, Powerboat Racing, Skateboarding, Speed Skating Short Track, Touring Car Racing, Climbing, Endurance Car Racing, Freestyle Skiing, Motocross, Powerlifting, Ski Jumping, Speedway, Track and Field, Cross Country Skiing, Endurance Moto Racing, Gold, Moutain Bike, Rally Raid, Snooker, Superbike, Trail.
Most of the sports content requires a Sports Add-on. The good news is that the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games via Eurosport are included in all 3 plans.
What’s next for Max?
The streaming service of Warner Bros. Discovery should be available in South East Asia in 2024.
WBD streaming strategy in MENA
Today, Max is available in the US and lots of countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Europe.
But, as you might know, Max isn’t available in Middle East and North Africa.
Why?
They chose a different strategy. Instead of going direct-to-consumer (D2C), they decided to distribute their content to local streaming services.
Last year, OSN strengthened its partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery by signing a new multi-year licensing deal, making OSN the exclusive home for HBO content in the region.
Besides HBO shows like Succession, the agreement also included more content and channels from Warner Bros. This gave OSN access to franchises like Batman, Dune, Matrix, The Suicide Squad, etc.
If HBO content is exclusive to OSN+, other Warner Bros. Discovery IPs are available on different services. For example, Discovery+ content can be found on stc tv and Jawwy TV.
So What?
What's the best way for a Hollywood studio to promote its content internationally?
Between a Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) or distribution strategy, the ultimate decision is driven by the potential revenue a studio expects from a specific territory.
Why isn't Max available in the Middle East? Warner Bros. Discovery has strong local partners there who can reach more users than if the company went solo. The agreement with OSN+ and the other streamers could change in the future, but for now, it's probably the best choice.
if we consider the approach of Disney, they initially distributed content through OSN+ in the MENA region before launching Disney+. Transitioning to D2C is challenging, involving platform setup, content creation, and marketing, and requires a significant investment.
On the other hand, distribution can generate immediate revenue, especially through multi-year deals.
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I will conclude this article with some statistics from OSN+, provided recently by Broadcast ME:
The 1st episode of House of the Dragon season 2 on the MENA platform reached an average of 40% of the streaming platform's active subscribers within just 1 week.
The second season has led to a 175% increase in new subscribers compared to the launch of the first season in 2022.
This isn't surprising, as Game of Thrones has always been a significant subscription driver for OSN+.
The challenge for them now is to keep their users engaged ;)
That’s all for today, Warner Bros. Discovery's streaming Strategy in Europe and MENA. If you enjoyed this breakdown, please consider sharing it with your friends and colleagues!
I hope everyone has a great week, see you online next Monday. Until then, enjoy Primal on Max (in France ;) A caveman at the dawn of evolution and a dinosaur on the brink of extinction are bonded by tragedy.
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