• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, August 29, 2023

In the latest example of growing content cooperation among entertainment companies struggling to improve their bottom lines, Max will offer more than 200 episodes from popular AMC Networks shows between Sept. 1 and Oct. 31.

The content, which will be available free to both ad-supported and premium Max subscribers, includes episodes from AMC series “Fear the Walking Dead” (seasons one through seven), “Killing Eve” (seasons one through four), “Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire” (season one), “Dark Winds” (season one), “Gangs of London” (seasons one and two), “A Discovery of Witches” (seasons one through three) and “Ride with Norman Reedus” (seasons one through five).

Max will feature an “AMC+ Picks on Max” tab during the content’s limited run.

Some of AMC’s most popular series, including “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul,” are committed to Netflix through licensing deals.

For Max, featuring AMC content is part of an ongoing drive to expand its content to broaden brand awareness and sampling of Max for new subscriber prospecting purposes. Last week, WBD announced the addition of a 24/7 CNN streaming hub on Max, on a test basis. WBD CEO David Zaslav has indicated that Max will also soon add streaming sports.

The deal will also serve to beef up Max’s offerings this fall, perhaps helping to stave off dissatisfaction among existing subscribers as all streamers and networks face the continued production halt of scripted shows due to the writers’ and actors’ strike.

"Subscribers turn to Max to find a deep and diverse selection of stories for the whole household,” Meredith Gertler, executive vice president, global content strategy, planning and analysis, stated in the announcement. “The AMC+ collection pop-up is an excellent example of how we can use innovative strategies to add value to our content offering.”

For AMC Networks, in addition to licensing fees or other financial benefits (terms of the deal with Max were not disclosed), exposure on Max may help drive new viewers to its pay-TV networks, or even to its own streaming service, AMC+ — which will continue to show the series being sampled on Max.

“AMC Networks makes great shows, and our goal is to bring these shows to as many people as possible, in ways that best serve viewers,” Dan McDermott, president of Entertainment and AMC Studios for AMC Networks, said in the press release. “This promotional arrangement with Warner Bros. Discovery is a terrific opportunity to serve up some of our most popular and critically acclaimed programming to millions of Max subscribers in the U.S. for two full months.”

AMC Networks’ losses as a result of continued defections from pay-TV bundles have not been offset by streaming gains, Chairman James Dolan acknowledged in an internal memo last November, in which he informed employees about significant impending layoffs.

“We are primarily a content company and the mechanisms for the monetization of content are in disarray,” Dolan wrote in the memo, which was obtained by CNBC at the time.