Recognizing live sports is key to future streaming bundling strategies, Warner Bros. Discovery has pulled plans to charge Max ad-free subscribers extra for sports and news content.
On Wednesday, the studio announced Max, at least for now, will offer sports and new content at no additional cost to standard and premium tier subscribers in the U.S. market. At the same time, beginning March 30, the B/R Sports and CNN Max content will no longer be available on Max’s basic with ads tier.
In January, CNN chief Mark Thompson outlined plans to launch a new streaming service for the cable news brand, saying in a memo that it would be “a new way for digital subscribers at home and abroad to stream news programming from us on any device they choose. The exec added, “It’s early days but we’ve already established that there’s immense demand for it not just in America, but across much of the world.”
The B/R Sports tier launched in fall 2024 ahead of the MLB playoffs and NBA and NHL seasons. The plan was for it to be free through the end of February, after which it could be purchased for an additional $10 per month. The timing was meant to coincide with the launch of the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament.
Now the paid tier of the service will be delayed, at least for now. “Over the last year plus, we had the opportunity to assess how users engage with sports and news on Max, and we’ve been actively involved in exploring ways to evolve the sports distribution ecosystem in the U.S. We believe that the best place for that content for now is within the standard and premium tiers,” JB Perrette, CEO and president of Global streaming and games at WBD said in an update.
WBD is expected to now focus on working with pay-TV partners to upsell the B/R Sports package. B/R Sports on Max offers over 1,700 live games and events each year, including content from the NBA, MLB, NHL, NCAA, NASCAR, Roland-Garros, Big 12, BIG EAST, U.S. soccer and pro cycling.
CNN Max offers subscribers a 24/7 news streaming feed on Max, with expanded access to on-demand news content and CNN Originals.
