Spectrum TV Select viewers can now access an ad-supported version of Max, which includes all HBO and Discovery+ content, at no additional cost. This was announced after the recent agreement between Warner Bros. Discovery and Spectrum TV’s parent company Charter Communications. This is a multi-year renewal agreement, signed early, and marks the first time that HBO programming will be available in a standard cable bundle and not as a separate add-on.
With this move, Max and Discovery+ join other platforms such as Disney+, ESPN+ and Paramount+ already available as a part of Spectrum’s bundle. Furthermore, the deal also includes an extension of Spectrum carrying Warner Bros. channels which includes TNT, CNN, Food Network, Discovery, TBS, Adult Swim, Investigation Discovery, HGTV and TLC.
This agreement comes at a time where both companies had the incentive to do so. As per Charter, it lost 393,000 residential pay TV subscribers in the second quarter and the video revenue has been down 7.7% year-over-year. For Warner Bros. Discovery, since the deal locks the prices for channels such as TNT, this softens the blow of possibly losing the NBA next year due to ongoing disputes over a rights package. The announcement has fared well for both companies as Warner Bros. Discovery’s share prices were up by about 7% and Charter gained more than 2% in morning trading.
David Zaslav, the CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, “This innovative partnership with Charter recognizes the value of our linear content and the investments we’ve made in premium original programming, sports and news, while also significantly expanding the distribution of Max’s ad-supported service to Spectrum’s millions of Select customers”. He added, “We did this agreement together nearly a year early to set a framework for the future and to provide more consumers access to our unparalleled content offering while giving the industry more resilience as it evolves. We are pleased this achieves each of our company’s objectives.” Chris Winfrey, CEO of Charter Communications said, “The inclusion of the ad-supported version of Max and Discovery+ in our most popular packages at no additional cost ensures we provide the most value to our customers.”