Time Warner has slowly become a leader of online streaming with HBO NOW leading the way for other services such as Showtime Anytime.
More recently Time Warner agreed to take a 10% stake in Hulu and allow its content to become available on Hulu’s new live TV streaming service.
Now Jeff Bewkes, in a conversation at Deutsche Bank’s annual Media & Telecom conference, said that it is not done yet.
Bewkes said that the existing ecosystem will remain a business driver, but he added that he expects “a bigger variety” of skinny bundles and cable packages including genre-focused packages based on sports. Meanwhile, Turner and HBO have both placed an emphasis on building out their digital distribution including short-form platforms Great Big Story from CNN and Super Deluxe from Turner.
You have already seen this new emphasis on digital content over the last few years. First Time Warner launched HBO NOW, one of the first standalone live TV streaming services. More recently Time Warner started to offer some CNNgo content for free to all with no provider log in needed. Time Warner has also teamed up recently with AT&T’s DIRECTV NOW to offer their channels to cord cutters.
Hopefully more networks follow Time Warner’s lead by making their content available to more streaming services; however, some networks such as Viacom have decided to go the other direction. Viacom recently made it clear that it will be pulling back from its digital efforts. Recently it removed its shows from Hulu and its channels from PlayStation Vue.
So not everyone shares Time Warner’s hopes for digital.
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