Discovery+ Should Empower HBO Max, Not Destroy It

These days, the average person needs to know way too much about massive corporate dealings just to follow entertainment news. Why did Fantastic Four and X-Men characters only now appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Doctor Strange 2? It’s because Disney bought Fox, which previously had the cinematic rights to those franchises. If you’ve been following Warner Bros. corporate shenanigans, though, you’ve seen headlines much more alarming than just “Finally, Scarlet Witch meets Professor X.” 

The beleaguered Warner media giant has been in the news for dumb reasons (turning Zack Snyder opinions into a moral referendum), as well as increasingly horrifying reasons (everything surrounding Ezra Miller). But arguably the biggest news is the continued fallout from the WarnerMedia/Discovery merger earlier this year, resulting in a new conglomerate: Warner Bros. Discovery. 

Corporate mergers are bad because monopolies are bad. They leave redundant employees out of work, leave customers with fewer options, and consolidate more power into the hands of a few elites. But I naively hoped that at the very least Warner Bros. Discovery would combine the power of its two video streaming services, Discovery+ and HBO Max, to create the subscription service to end all subscription services. Alas, instead of empowering HBO, Discovery+ seems poised to destroy it. And that’s a shame, because we could have had it all. 

(Credit: Warner Bros. Discovery)

Fusion Dance

Discovery and WB each has a video streaming service. They aren’t quite Editors’ Choice award winners, but they’re strong in their respective categories. HBO Max has all the premium shows that made the HBO brand synonymous with the Golden Age of Television. Besides Sex and the City, The Sopranos, and The Wire, the service leverages Warner’s other, varied properties (that we still want to see fight in MultiVersus). There’s everything from Batman and Game of Thrones, to Rick and Morty and Studio Ghibli anime. Plus, HBO Max has a top-notch collection of new and classic film. It’s an appealing service for mainstream adults, and it has the Snyder Cut, which I’m genuinely glad exists.  

Meanwhile, the wide world of reality show garbage on Discovery+ is so irresistible we’ve already written a love letter to its trashy delights. Nerds may not understand this, especially if they’ve spent years nursing grudges over folks who don’t take comic books as seriously as they do, but reality TV is extremely popular. Between Guy Fieri’s cooking shows, questionable dating advice from Oprah Winfrey, outlandish true crime documentaries, and the endless pleasure of the 90 Day Fiancé universe, Discovery+ has this incredibly important part of the streaming market locked down. 

Unfortunately, Discovery is so formidable that it has apparently taken the reins on the WarnerMedia merger. Discovery’s CEO David Zaslav has become the Warner Bros. Discovery CEO, and his recent moves threaten to wreck what remains of Warner Bros. and throw the entire union out of balance. 

(Credit: Warner Bros. Discovery)

Discovery Minus

Zaslav isn’t building up HBO Max, he’s cutting it down. He’s backing away from the (admittedly controversial) COVID-era policy of releasing movies on streaming and in theaters on the same day. But he’s also deemphasizing HBO Max’s original scripted programming. He’s removing “underperforming” content from the platform without warning, even if HBO already owns it. Most egregiously, he’s cancelled two nearly finished films: Batgirl and Scoob!: Holiday Haunt. And for what reason? A possible tax write-off.

Like many CEOs, Zaslav wants his company to make more money while spending less. Discovery+, while entertaining, provides him a very cynical way to achieve that on HBO Max. Don’t worry about fostering high-quality original shows, just pump in cheap, addictive reality TV that costs peanuts to produce. Who cares if you tarnish the HBO brand if the subscriber numbers go up? It’s the kind of lazy, artless, reductive, shortsighted thinking you’d expect from management that tells investors “HBO is for men and Discovery is for women.” These are the actions from a greedy corporate lawyer-turned CEO who hires like-minded, money-grubbing executives, all while peddling trash TV and claiming POC-led media isn’t good enough to release.

Each service could’ve filled in a piece of the puzzle. HBO has the quality scripted dramas, superhero blockbusters, and family-friendly cartoons; Discovery+ has the slop that’s so bad, it’s good.

It’s a slap in the face to the hardworking creatives who got the rug pulled out from under them, such as actor Leslie Grace and directors Adil & Bilall. It confirms our worst fears that corporat-ccontrolled streaming services make it harder to preserve film art rather than easier. And it’s a big disappointment to me personally—someone who loves both Discovery+ and HBO Max—who got excited at the idea of the two platforms merging.

(Credit: Warner Bros. Discovery)

Each service could’ve filled in a piece of the puzzle. HBO has the quality scripted dramas, superhero blockbusters, and family-friendly cartoons; Discovery+ has the slop that’s so bad, it’s good. Leave Discovery on in the background while you do daytime chores, and swap to HBO to watch something after dinner. Together, this combination could’ve satisfied all the useful roles streaming TV seeks to provide. I would happily pay way too much money for this ideal HBO/Discovery mash-up, because I could leave Netflix and Peacock by the wayside and never look back. But for that to happen, HBO would need to be nourished. Instead, it’s being neglected. 

Home Box Office Minimum

Aside from a few movies being canceled, we don’t know what exactly is going to happen. Whatever combined new streaming service Warner Bros. Discovery is planning won’t launch until summer 2023. Meanwhile, HBO Max is just ironing out bugs in its current apps, as if that’ll change anything. Zaslav’s recent moves have garnered such unprecedented bad press that it seems possible plans may change. But chances are the company will stick to its guns, and remain boneheaded enough not to release a new movie that has Michael Keaton once again donning the Batsuit.

There are so many video streaming services now, with confusing cable-like bundle deals, that combining some of them isn’t the worst idea. Why pretend to have options if they’re owned by the same companies anyway? Disney+ meets Hulu would be a similarly compelling pitch to attract audiences. However, the freedom and flexibility of online streaming should only be used to make the platforms better, not degrade them for a quick buck. Discovery+ shouldn’t be used for evil, and HBO Max deserves better. In the meantime, hold onto all the physical media you can. 

For more on streaming, check out five reasons to ditch your video subscription and keep cable. Learn how to pick streaming services that fit your budget. And check out our recommended streaming video guides if you don’t know what to watch.