AT&T’s WarnerMedia is planning to run new episodes of some of its popular cable shows—such as TNT’s The Alienist, first on its upcoming streaming service, before they debut on cable networks, according to The Information.
WarnerMedia has to bring out the big guns, as it will compete with Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and Apple+ when it launches in beta later this year. The new service is tentatively called HBO Max, and will feature content from WarnerMedia channels such as HBO, TBS, TNT, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim and more.
The service will probably rely heavily on material from HBO with blockbusters such as Game of Thrones, Westword and Veep.
The new service will also draw from the Warner Bros movie and TV series catalogues, including Batman, The Lord of The Rings, Harry Potter, Bugs Bunny cartoons, and popular shows like Friends and The Big Bang Theory.
By premiering new series on the streaming OTT service, WarnerMedia hopes to build its audience, making these ‘previews’ a kind of ‘originals’. In The Netherlands, RTL is also using the same strategy to position its OTT streaming service Videoland, but bring new episodes of TV series before broadcast on the RTL channels.
