Max brings news to the streamer next month
Warner Bros. Discovery recently announced that its flagship news organization, CNN, will be launching a product on the streamer starting September 27, called CNN Max. While other major media organizations have standalone FAST/AVOD offerings for similar news products, CNN Max will be integrated directly into the Max SVOD experience at no additional cost. Taking lessons learned from the short-lived CNN+ (which was scuttled only weeks after launch, and shortly after the merger between Warner Bros. and Discovery was completed), CNN Max will offer a hybrid of produced content and live broadcast news. CNN Max will feature top talent from CNN, but repackaged into new shows and features to uphold the agreements for their cable-TV products and the lucrative carriage fees they generate. CNN Max will serve as a live beta, with feedback welcome and inevitable changes as the format takes shape. Learnings from CNN Max will also serve as a catalyst for an even bigger as-yet-unsolved piece of the streaming landscape: live sports.
The Circana Take:
- Adding CNN Max may become a significant value add for Max subscribers and could prove to be a better solution than a standalone news-only offering.
- News offers the perfect opportunity to work out the kinks of live coverage and take those learnings into a future with live streaming sports.
Live sports on SVOD continues to evolve
One of the last frontiers to conquer in streaming is live sports (local news is another missing piece). Many of the biggest players in the space are trying to navigate these uncharted waters. As such, ESPN is working to develop a standalone streaming service, Amazon is expanding coverage of Thursday Night Football, and YouTube is working hard to break even on its $2B investment to host NFL Sunday Ticket for the next two years. In fact, some of these media giants’ paths are crossing, as Amazon has been rumored to be a potential investment partner with Disney for the development of the independent ESPN streamer. Further, Amazon is increasing its use of AI technology during its coverage of TNF, while also aggressively pursuing other sports ventures including the NBA. Meanwhile, YouTube has been offering discounts for its NFL packages, which could either signal headwinds in trying to recoup their investment, or as a strategy to quash all competition by acquiring the interested user base.
The Circana Take:
- Solving sports on SVOD would accelerate cord-cutting even more… if the right solutions are presented.
- The NFL’s various forays into non-traditional formats is a further signal of the evolution of in-home media consumption. The success of any of these endeavors should prove noteworthy for those interested in streaming live sports.