The boss of Warner Bros Discovery International confirms things will be changing for viewers in the UK and other countries where his company’s content is currently shown on Sky.
- Hint that Sky deal could be renewed, but on very different terms
- Launch of streaming service Max delayed in UK and other countries due to Sky deal which expires next year.
Gerhard Zeiler told delegates at the MoffettNathanson media conference in New York that a future deal with Sky is possible, but that Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) would not “disadvantage” itself.
The comments, first reported by Deadline, hint at a possibility that Sky viewers won’t face a blackout when WBD’s current content deal expires late 2025. Many of Sky’s current channels, notably Sky Atlantic, were built around its content deal with HBO, now part of WBD. Sky has been developing its own studios and production arm to help fill schedules beyond 2025.
Zeiler’s comments also indicated that the planned rollout of streaming service Max would also help with the transition from traditional linear broadcast channels in the coming years.
The situation now
The current deal with Comcast covering HBO and Warner content was signed in 2019, long before the merger that created Warner Bros Discovery. That’s resulted in a string of HBO and Warner Bros content including Euphoria, Succession and House of the Dragon going to Sky.
They’re the type of shows WBD needs to attract subscribers to its own streaming offer.
As a result, WBD has had to hold back from launching its new streaming service Max in the three markets Sky operates in (UK/Ireland, Germany/Austria and Italy). The rollout of Max continues in the rest of Europe this year.
The plan
The Sky-WBD status quo finishes at the end of next year.
WBD wants to launch Max in the UK and elsewhere at this point, meaning many top shows currently on Sky’s channels would disappear and move over to Max.
Max aims to be WBD’s all-in-one streamer. In the UK and Ireland this will mean combining entertainment and children’s content, currently on Sky’s linear and on-demand services with what’s already available on Discovery+.
Zeiler said it was “too early to say” how and when things will change, but discussions were already taking place.
He told delegates that if the deal with Sky was renewed, it would look very different. He noted: “Sky was always a great partner for us, and it’s still a great partner today. That’s number one. But we want, we need to, and we will launch Max in these three markets. These are three of the most important markets outside of the U.S. There is no reason we should not do that. Why should we disadvantage ourselves by not launching Max?”
Transition to streaming
And Zeiler also provided an extra reason why it was important for WBD to launch Max. He noted: “You can’t be successful in streaming if you are not global,” he said. “You are really disadvantaged when it comes to monetization compared to your peers, and also when you want to get the transition right from linear to streaming.”
WBD is still heavily reliant on linear broadcast outlets and deals with platform operators to carry those channels.
While Discovery+ has had a degree of success, boosted through its carriage of Eurosport and TNT Sports, the company is beginning to lag behind other broadcasters who have adopted a streaming-first strategy.
Max would combine on-demand content with live streams of its current linear channels, plus new streaming-only services, like the CNN MAX service already live in the USA.
▶ RXTV Analysis: So what could change?
One option is that HBO content would continue to be available on Sky’s platforms with Max becoming integrated in Sky’s on-demand libraries. This would mean shows from Max would be found in a similar way to how Netflix or BBC iPlayer shows are found on Sky’s platforms.
However, it’s possible that in order to access these shows, Sky subscribers would need an additional subscription.
Alternatively, Sky and WBD may agree to bundle Max with Sky’s current offering. Over the US, Sky’s owner Comcast has just announced a similar concept, bunding Apple TV+, Peacock and Netflix in one package.
In this scenario, very little might change for on-demand users. The programmes will still be found on Sky Q, Glass, Stream and NOW, but they’ll just point to a different streaming service. Viewers may need to still register their details with Max, but it wouldn’t cost extra.
However, it’s Sky’s linear channels that face the biggest changes. Stripped of a lot of the programmes that filled their schedules, Sky may reshuffle its linear portfolio, as it’s done before. Sky and WBD may also reach a licensing deal that allows the linear channels to continue to show older programmes. But Sky’s channels and on-demand streams would no longer be the place to watch brand new shows from WBD/HBO.
By: Marc Thornham | Image: WBD/Sky RXTV composite
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