• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, October 17, 2023

Max started to become “slightly profitable” in this year’s first half, according to Warner Bros. Discovery’s President of International Gerhard Zeiler.

Aside from Netflix, that makes Max the only profitable subscription-based video-on-demand, Zeiler said in a keynote at entertainment content trade show MIPCOM in Cannes on Monday.

But while other major SVODs are still “losing a lot of money,” more “rational attitudes” are starting to prevail across the streaming marketplace, he said. The era of streaming in which content was over-delivered and underpriced is over, Zeiler predicted, seeming to imply that others were following WBD’s lead in this regard.

WBD is “not religious” about keeping content exclusive for its own streaming services, he said: “Our goal is to maximize reach and also monetization. If we see that in certain markets and programs, it makes sense to send it to third parties. We are doing that.”

Rival entertainment/streaming companies are expected to explore third-party content licensing during the MIPCOM event.

The flexible content approach is part of WBD’s broader strategy of not being a “one-trick pony” that limits itself to a single business model, Zeiler said. WBD is “100%” committed to theatrical releases — where it hit the jackpot this year with “Barbie” — but also to streaming, which it views as its growth engine, and to linear, he said.

WBD — which has laid off thousands in the process of merging teams and units since it was created through Discovery’s acquisition of WarnerMedia in 2022 — focused on defining its mission and vision, executing as quickly and efficiently as possible, and creating a new culture out of the two distinctive companies, Zeiler said.

The company has succeeded, he said, confirming that it is now hiking its original target of realizing $3 billion in synergies to $5 billion. WBD is “one company, not six or seven diluted units," with a clear mission of being a “content company."

“We are not selling connectivity or anything else,” he added. “We are storytellers. That’s our mission."

Zeiler’s main news was WBD’s plans to roll out Max in 22 European markets next year, starting with the Nordic and Iberian regions, the Netherlands and some Central and Eastern European markets in the spring. France and Belgium will get the service in a second wave later next year. WBD currently has distribution deals with Amazon Prime Video in those two markets.

Some of the European markets already had HBO Max, but not the relaunched Max offering.

The European service will feature live sports through WBD’s Eurosport channel, including the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, the Tour de France and the Grand Slam tennis tournaments, and in some countries, live simulcasts of WBD’s local entertainment networks.

Although the assumption is that, as in other markets, Max’s European offering will include an ad-supported tier, Zeiler — who recently put a new international team in place, after several executives departed — did not offer specifics about advertising or the overall business model.

Nor did he address Max’s future in other major European markets where WBD has existing rights and distribution deals with Sky, including the U.K., Germany and Italy.

Max is also set to roll out in Latin America in next year’s first quarter, and to launch in key Asia Pacific territories during 2024.