This article comes from the WeChat public account: Yiyuguancha (ID: yiyuguancha), author: Big Entertainment, headline source: "Friends"
"Gone with the Wind" has been fully removed from HBO Max and has reached the headline position.
The HBO Max that Warner Media has been preparing for for a long time has been launched for less than a month, but the attention this service seems to have received far less than the Apple TV+ and Disney+ launched six months ago, especially when it is still under the halo of "HBO".
neither brought new content that could be discussed on social media, nor even the service itself did not appear to be squeezed into collapse on the first day of Disney+'s launch. This kind of calmness makes people feel even more weird.
Of course, it is not difficult to see the "unique" aspects of HBO Max from the most basic level. HBO Max is still only available to local American users, which is similar to Disney+'s strategy. First establish a user base through the US market, and then further expand to the international market.
, but compared with Apple and Disney services, Warner set a monthly price of $14.99 for HBO Max, which is equivalent to the price of Netflix's highest-spec package, and nearly double the price of Disney+.
Comparison of the current subscription prices of various streaming media platforms, chart source: deadline.com
But if you look closely at the services of HBO Max, you will find a problem. At least for now, , a streaming media platform that has accumulated over decades, has not provided a service corresponding to its price.
There are both technical problems, as well as internal collaboration and historical problems caused by the years of development of media companies. These problems, including Disney+ under Disney, are also facing them, which all traditional studios cannot avoid when entering the streaming field.
The most expensive HBO Max: There are not many "new products", and you have to rely on " Friends " to support the show
As long as you have paid a little attention to "Game of Thrones", the most popular drama in the past decade, probably many people will more or less hear about HBO Now and HBO Go two online platforms exclusive to HBO. Of course, these two platforms have always had more bad news than good news. Generally, when they appear in the media, it is likely that their services will collapse again.
with the launch of HBO Max, another question has also surfaced, what should be done with the two services of HBO Now and HBO Go.
Of course, no one will underestimate HBO Max. The platform was seen from the beginning as competing with rivals such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Hulu. Compared with a more niche product like HBO Now, the American telecom giant ATT, which stands behind Warner Media, has once again tried to use streaming services to further expand its influence in the consumer market. At the same time, HBO Max will also combine with ATT's broadband and mobile services.
AT&T announced the launch of the streaming service HBO Max
at a special event for investors. For content consumers, the list of content given by HBO Max is really tempting.
costs $14.99 per month ($12 per month for the first year if subscribers sign up through ATT's HBO Max website), and subscribers can have a complex and highly-rich online content library that includes Warner Bros.’s years of classic works, cartoon shows, Studio Ghibli animated films that exclusively copyrighted in North America, DC Cinema Universe and new original movies, and most importantly all HBO classics. From this perspective, this is indeed an order of magnitude more than the TV series that HBO Now users spend $15 a month to watch HBO.
This is one of Warner's strategies.
Warner Media’s goal is obvious: makes HBO Now and HBO Go a kind of past, thus transferring everyone to HBO Max. The HBO Now app can even support users to automatically upgrade to HBO Max apps on their playback devices.
The incoming ATTh CEO and former Warner Media CEO John Stanley said in a speech last year that people's decision to upgrade from HBO Now to HBO Max was a simple "IQ test". The information he gave was very clear: HBO Max is our future and your future.
"We will become a company with a very important streaming platform," ATT Chief Financial Officer John Stephens said at a 2019 financial report meeting, and he also pointed out that HBO Max is "a key link in ATT's future video strategy."
But is it really wise to launch a streaming service priced at $15 amid the global economy? Even with a considerable library of copyrighted content, HBO Max, which costs $15 a month, has instantly become the most expensive streaming service.
, by comparison, Netflix has three-tier packages to choose from, Apple TV+ costs only $5 a month, not to mention that most users of Apple’s new products can also use it for a full year for free, while Disney+, which also has luxury copyrighted content, also costs only $8 a month. Stephen Beck, founder of
consulting company cg42, said that the current price of streaming media will begin to become a part of the competition. "The price will definitely be relevant. According to people's different views on economic recovery, the price of streaming services will be very eye-catching in the face of such a global epidemic."
In addition to the rather "luxury" price, HBO Now currently offers fewer original programs and movies than those planned by Warner Media. When
HBO Max went live, it had over 10,000 hours of content, including 1,300 movies. But there is little new original content included, and even Warner executives recognize this; Warner Media Chairman Bob Greenblatt and HBO Max chief creative officer Kevin Riley once said whether the launch of HBO Max should be postponed, because the production of several original programs specially created for this platform has been affected by the epidemic.
This includes the highly anticipated "Friends" reunion special. Warner executives originally expected this to be one of the most sought after content at the beginning of HBO Max launch, but now they can only put the original "Friends" alone on the recommendation column. According to the Wall Street Journal, Warner originally aimed to release 11 original series between mid-June and August to enhance the appeal, such as the entire 23 seasons of South Park and the new HBO series from Perry Mason, among others.
Stills of "Friends (Season 10)"
But for now, there is no new drama on HBO Max that has become a hot topic on social media like Disney+ launched "Mandalorian" when it was launched. The only main featured HBO Max original drama " Love Life " brought even less attention than Apple TV+'s "Morning News", which eventually won some of the Emmy Awards that year.
In fact, too little original content is not a problem with HBO Max. Disney+ also needs to face this test, because the first episode of the first season of "The Mandalorian" ended in just eight weeks, but then the platform also had a huge window. It is impossible to support its users' enthusiasm for paying for the whole time with various documentaries and behind-the-scenes footage, especially when Netflix can still output various content continuously.
technology is too poor and the relationship is too complicated. Traditional studios have to pay a lot of tuition fees
When it comes to Netflix, the algorithm behind it is almost becoming a distinctive subject, but Netflix executives have reiterated on many occasions that the so-called " House of Cards " was filmed based on algorithms and is just a marketing concept. Of course, it is a fact that Netflix is keen to test various recommendation algorithms on its platform to enhance user stickiness, and their technical teams frequently showcase the underlying technology they use in their technology blogs.
Previously, Yiyu Observer also introduced that Netflix's upgrade of online video playback decoding technology allows it to use less bandwidth to allow users to experience better picture quality and sound effects. Just like the iteration and update of movie technology, even the series has entered a stage of technical iteration of shooting equipment and playback equipment at the same time.
Comparison of online high-definition lovers: For the same film, the domestic 4K bit rate vs. Netflix's 1080P
Whether it is 4K HDR picture quality or Dolby Vision, Netflix almost immediately provided corresponding support, not to mention multi-language dubbing and subtitles matching.From a certain perspective, this also sets a standard for subsequent streaming platforms, and users have long used such psychological expectations.
Disney+, created by traditional studios, is probably the fastest in the Chaser Middle School. Before it was launched, it clearly stated that it would provide specifications such as 4K HDR. However, as of now, most of its copyrighted content has not yet been upgraded in quality. With the increase in launch areas, Disney+ also provides corresponding subtitle support. Of course, on the day Disney+ was launched, there was still a problem of too many registered users and crashing. We are already common in HBO Now.
In terms of the application of new technologies, the latest HBO Max is a typical negative teaching material.
The content on this platform currently does not support 4K, let alone HDR or Dolby Vision. When Harry Potter fans excitedly click " Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone ", they will be "surprised" to find that the movie is still played according to HD (720P) quality, spending $15 in 2020, but they can only enjoy the visual experience ten years ago.
"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" Stills
As a non-tech company, Warner Media may be excused that it was not good for a platform in the past, but telecom giants like ATT still cannot provide the latest and best technical support for new services as soon as possible. It has to be said that the internal coordination problems of large companies will easily be reflected in their products and services.
. In addition to technology, even the content distribution that big studios are best at is easy to see them on streaming media.
Due to years of accumulation and complex mergers and acquisitions, the size of today's media companies has been several times that of that year. It is precisely because of these layered architectures and changing high-level industries that each company has more than one streaming platform and countless complex copyright agreements.
Currently, Warner Media alone has multiple streaming media platforms such as HBO Max, HBO Now, HBO Go, DC Universe, CINEMAX GO. Although HBO Max is the so-called master, as far as possible, the popular animation "Harry Quinn" on DC Universe is still exclusively broadcast on the platform.
Even "Superman: Man of Steel " has not appeared on HBO Max. In fact, if you look closely, you will find that any content about Superman is not involved on this platform. There are naturally reasons behind this that need to take care of DC Universe.
At the same time, Nolan 's "Batman Trilogy" also disappeared because the streaming distribution copyright agreement signed by Netflix has not yet expired. If Warner does not intend to give up other internal platforms, there will still be copyright separation even within the company, further reducing the attractiveness of HBO Max.
also has this problem on Disney, with three major streaming platforms: Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+. The first two make Disney try to differentiate in streaming content. Since Disney+ represents Disney's family-friendly brand, more Hulu will undertake more adult-oriented content. There is a reason why the content of the two platforms of
is not integrated, but the final streaming distribution platform of the popular documentary "The Last Dance" launched by ESPN not long ago is Netflix, which makes people wonder if there is no one in Disney to coordinate the copyrighted content between these platforms, especially when Disney+ still lacks heavyweight original content. As for Fox, which just completed its acquisition last year, a large number of classic content under its subsidiaries are still missing.
"The Last Dance" poster
. According to the latest news from The Information, after Disney took over Hulu in full, they tried to switch Hulu's technology and advertising team to BAMTech, a digital platform that Disney spent billions to acquire. However, this move was later resisted by Hulu's technical team, resulting in increasingly divergence between Disney and Hulu's teams.
The whole house is just a sudden outbreak. Kevin Mayer, an executive in charge of the streaming department of Disney, also left TikTok last month. It was under his leadership that Disney+ achieved its current outstanding performance. How to coordinate and integrate internal streaming resources will become a long-term topic for Disney's new CEO.
, whether it is technical or internal integration issues, requires a longer period of accumulation and sorting. NBC Global Streaming Media Peacock, which will appear next month, is likely to have similar problems. For traditional studios, whether it is Disney's Disney+ or Warner's HBO Max, instead of passively responding to the challenges of Netflix, it is better to actively transform to adapt to the development of the times. Taking the initiative means that you need to abandon looking forward and step out of your comfort zone in order to survive in an increasingly cruel competitive environment.
