Max grows TCM Hub
Warner Bros. Discovery is adding hundreds of classic films to the TCM hub on Max. The hub programming will closely align with TCM channel content and includes a Mickey Rooney collection featuring “Words and Music,” a Humphrey Bogart section featuring “Key Largo,” “Invisible Stripes” and “It All Came True.” Other classic actors that will have visibility on the hub are Cary Grant, George Raft, and Elizabeth Taylor. TCM has had a busy year celebrating its 30thanniversary, plans to add a New York City pop-up next month to its TCM Classic Film Festival and hosting the cast of “Pulp Fiction” at its festival in LA. Fans will be happy to have additional content available in a more unified way.
The Circana Take:
- Max updates are making the service look more like traditional cable TV, from live HBO channels to mimicking the TCM network.
David Letterman goes FAST
David Letterman’s production company will be adding about 4,000 hours of video to the Samsung TV Plus FAST service. The on-demand channel called “Letterman TV” will feature segments from his three-decade run, including Top Ten lists, Stupid Tricks, interviews, and behind-the-scenes clips along with new commentary from Letterman. Samsung’s FAST service has 88m monthly active users (MAU) and offers 3,000 channels worldwide.
The Circana Take:
- As the FAST space becomes increasingly crowded, services need to offer unique and interesting content to differentiate themselves. This deal is another example of Samsung expanding their exclusive content offering, a challenge for a service not linked to a studio like Pluto TV (Paramount) or Xumo (Universal).
CNBC+ streaming service
NBCUniversal plans to launch a new standalone SVOD service in Q1 2025 called CNBC+ at a cost of $15/month or $99/year. The service will feature a global news feed where viewers can watch worldwide programming wherever they are. The content will be the same as that shown on the linear CNBC channel. There has been a ton of buzz in the industry lately in this area with Disney+, Max, Paramount+ and Peacock offering live news on their SVOD platforms.
The Circana Take:
- We’re seeing the final innings of the transition from cable to streaming TV as sports and news get freed from the traditional TV infrastructure. NBC is taking a different tact then competitors by running news separate from Peacock. It will only be a matter of time before this service gets nested into the mothership.