AT&T’s WarnerMedia division is prepping a new direct-to-consumer streaming service that will feature its portfolio of entertainment brands, including HBO.
WarnerMedia CEO John Stankey on Wednesday announced the new product onstage at the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit, noting that it is expected to launch in the fourth quarter of 2019.
“You’re going to see a stronger HBO as this offering comes to market,” he said, adding, “I believe this platform that we’ll put in place will see other strong brands around it that a customer can identify with.”
The exec confirmed that HBO will continue to be sold as a stand-alone product but that the rest of the service will not be available a la carte. Further, Stankey said that CNN will not be part of the service, clarifying that some documentary programming could be available but that the live news programming would not be offered as part of a subscription. Though he didn’t get into specifics on other content that will be available, it is expected that the service will offer the movies from the Warner Bros. library and television programming from across the Turner networks.
A WarnerMedia streaming service will put the company, recently acquired by AT&T, square into the race for streaming audiences alongside Disney, which is currently prepping a family-friendly subscription video service that it plans to bundle with other streaming products ESPN+ and Hulu.
In a statement issued at the time of the announcement, Stankey called the new service “another benefit of the AT&T/Time Warner merger, and we are committed to launching a compelling and competitive product that will serve as a complement to our existing businesses and help us to expand our reach by offering a new choice for entertainment with the WarnerMedia collection of films, television series, libraries, documentaries and animation loved by consumers around the world.”
Details about pricing and the name of the service were not disclosed and are expected to be announced at a later date.
