Conan O’Brien quipped, “I like their slogan. It’s ‘Make WarnerMedia your seventh streaming service,’” but there’s a lot more truth to that statement than joke. O’Brien was on hand for the official announcement of the WarnerMedia streaming service, which has been known to be in the works since last year. The service will launch this year and will include content from Time-Warner properties TBS, TNT, TRUTV, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim and CNN. Unlike other services, WarnerMedia isn’t diving right in with original content. At launch, it will only offer catalog content, with plans to offer original material sometime in 2020.
This information was shared by Alex Zalben of Decider:
Okay, they are talking about the WarnerMedia Streaming Service a bit.
Looks like TBS, TNT, TRUTV, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim and CNN will be on the service.
Legacy content to start, then original content in “Phase 2” next year #WarnerMediaUpfront
— Alex Zalben (@azalben) May 15, 2019
It’s possible that this service is being launched this year, even without original content, because Disney+ is launching this fall, and Time-Warner wants to jump into the fray before too many other competitors pop up. Obviously right now, Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Video are the Big Three, but CBS All Access and DC Universe are elbowing their way into the fracas with some high-profile programming. Comcast is launching an NBCUniversal service as well, but that will be free and supported by ads.
Even though the WarnerMedia streaming service will only offer catalog titles at first, it’s a very desirable catalog. It will become the only place fans can find ‘The Office’, and ‘Friends’ two shows that are hugely popular on existing services. In fact, after their contract expired, and fans revolted, Netflix had to broker a deal to pay $100 million to keep ‘Friends’ for another year. With WarnerMedia arriving, however, you can bet that Netflix won’t be getting the sitcom back after the current agreement expires.
One of the only original series known to be in the works for WarnerMedia is a prequel series based on the movie ‘Gremlins’.
Will you be buying into the WarnerMedia streaming service? Let us know below!