Mediaweek yesterday reported comments made by Singapore-based James Gibbons (pictured above), president APAC for Warner Bros Discovery (WBD), about the launch of Max in Australia.
“We can confirm we’ll be launching our direct service in Australia in the first half of next year; that’s definitely happening,” said Gibbons.
If WBD owns Max, who will own Foxtel?
Comments made by Gibbons about the partnership with Foxtel have triggered renewed speculation that Max will replace Binge in the market here. It is expected that Warner Bros. Discovery will own Max. But who will own Foxtel?
Gibbons said yesterday: “We have had a longstanding and really important relationship with Foxtel and I think the time has come for us to expand that into the DTC space.
“Partners are really important for us, and in fact, if I think across the region, the discussions we’ve either announced or the discussions that are happening, in every case we continue to work with our key partners to roll out direct-to-consumer streaming. I think that really says a lot about our view of what streaming is in today’s world, and it also says a lot about how partners and aggregators are looking at the business.”
Gibbons made the comments at the APOS conference in Bali yesterday. Also attending APOS this year is Foxtel Group chief executive Patrick Delany.
Gibbons was asked at APOS about bundling and aggregation in the region:
“There has always been a sense of when will aggregation happen, how long can you ask people to choose between so many services and tackle their billing. There is always a question of when that will happen.
“In several markets, the structure of the market makes it difficult to see how that’s going to come together – obviously the US being a great example. In the last 12 months there’s been a number of experiments.
“In the US we’ve done direct streaming bundles now with Disney and Hulu. That’s a signal that the consumer is expecting more simplicity, and whether that is done through more imaginative ways of working with our partners in distribution, or working with other streamers, it’s become clear that everyone is trying to solve the same challenge.”
Max as the Trojan Horse for building WBD consumer brand
While there is plenty of understanding among consumers about the powerful brands that sit inside Warner Bros Discovery, having them showcased on Max in Australia opens up other opportunities for the group.
Gibbons spoke about engaging with fans. “When you have a route to market and you have amazing content and IP that you’ve either built or you’ve worked with others to bring to market, and then you’ve got a fan base, those fan bases consume across a number of touch points. When you add together the value of interaction between a fan and IP, there is more value outside video.
“That means it is so important for us to build on that value. Consumer Products is one, there is an expansion and that’s a big growth area for us in many markets but especially in Japan and China where it’s products, its apparel, it’s characters and all of that.
“One really interesting area is experiences. We traditionally have not operated directly in parks or anything on the ground in that sense, however, that is changing.
Harry Potter Studio Tour in Tokyo
“We launched the Harry Potter Studio Tour in Tokyo last year, which was the first studio tour outside of London, and it’s just blown us away. It’s packed out, there are millions of people going to see the movie sets of the Harry Potter movies, and it’s added a huge dimension to our business in Japan and especially nurtured our fan base, and helped us to grow that Harry Potter fan case and serve them with something new.
“We intend to invest in that and to continue to grow that, and not only with the studio tour; we also have a Harry Potter event coming to Singapore in the fourth quarter. Outside of Harry Potter we’ve got DC – we are doing Batman day this month, we have the DC reboot coming, and we’ve got a lot of activity in those areas as well as potentially with some of the HBO properties.
“We don’t have a lot of detail today but that is an extremely important third pillar and as our go-to-market plans are put in place it will essentially create a bigger base for us to develop a true experiences business.”