HBO Max India launch put on indefinite hold by Warner Bros Discovery

Warner Bros Discovery has put the plans to launch fashionable American subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service HBO Max in India on hold, whilst the corporate is taking a look at cost-cutting measures globally and dealing on merging Discovery+ with HBO Max within the present markets.
The transfer has prompted the India content material head of HBO Max, Saugata Mukherjee, to give up inside one 12 months of becoming a member of.

“There is no clarity on what Warner Bros Discovery is planning around HBO Max in India. Earlier, the plan was to launch in 1-2 years and the content team had started working on some great projects. Now they are not even sure if they will launch a service in India,” stated a senior govt with direct data of the developments. “All we were told is that it will not launch till the end of 2024. In a fast-changing OTT world, two-years is a very long time.”

Mukherjee, who had joined as content material head of HBO Max final 12 months in November, is anticipated to return to SonyLIV.

He remained unavailable for remark.

“Saugata has decided to leave the company. He is an incredibly talented leader, and we wish him the very best in his future endeavours,” an organization spokesperson advised ET.

When requested concerning the firm’s plans for India, an organization spokesperson replied, “The intent is to launch a combined streaming service, including in key Asia-Pacific territories in 2024.”

Earlier in June, Arjun Nohwar was appointed as GM, Warner Bros Discovery for South Asia. Prior to this, he was chargeable for the launch of HBO Max in India.

The modifications on the firm have stemmed from Warner Bros.’ merger with Discovery Communications, after the previous was spun off from AT&T.

“It’s a major miss for the Indian content creators,” stated a high producer, who was creating a collection for HBO Max in India. “It’s a tough industry and we were working hard for the last nine months. In our business, it’s a long time. Just because Netflix and a few other international OTTs have not been able to crack the Indian market, doesn’t mean that India is not a good country to work in. It’s been unfortunate that their strategy changes every week.”

In June, after the merger bought regulatory approvals, firm’s CEO and president David Zaslav put in place a slew of price slicing measures throughout the globe, to save lots of $3 billion, which has resulted within the exit of many HBO previous timers globally.

Earlier this month, the corporate laid off round 70 employees, or 14% of its workforce, at HBO and HBO Max. The firm had additionally shut down the CNN+ streaming service within the US inside a month of the launch, which price it round $300 million.

Globally, the corporate has carried out large restructuring, which has resulted in a shakeup of the leisure business within the US. These embrace the cancellation of the film, ‘Batgirl’ and several other reveals. Pehal News