Discovery, whose executives now largely run the newly combined company, was “used to low-cost programming,” Andy Goldman, a former vice president of program strategy and planning at HBO who now teaches as an adjunct professor at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, told TheWrap.
And some of that thinking seems to be trickling down to HBO.
Francesca Orsi, HBO’s head of drama, repeatedly brought up terms like “budget” and “cost,” noting that contemporary shows cost less than period shows or those with “a big visual effects component,” in a recent interview with Deadline. And she stressed the need to weigh expense against viewership.
It’s a shift in tone more than a wholesale change. Production is underway on the second season of “House of the Dragon,” which is currently expected to be delivered in 2024, and the second season of “The Last of Us” is aiming for a premiere in 2025. But the open discussion of costs feels new after a time when it seemed like streamers were competing to see who could greenlight the most expensive series.
Warner Bros. Discovery faces pressure from Wall Street to whittle down its debt load, which it recently got under $50 billion after some recent repayments. It’s still in the midst of an ongoing restructuring which includes taking $3.5 billion in content impairment and development write-offs. It’s already purged notable programs like “The Nevers,” “Westworld,” and “Minx” to focus Max more on family-friendly programming. Though comparisons are difficult given the WarnerMedia-Discovery merger, experts believe the combined company’s content budget has dropped from $22 billion in 2022 to $20 billion this year.
Warner executives expect its direct-to-consumer business, which includes Max subscriptions and HBO distribution fees from cable providers, to generate a $1 billion profit in 2025.
Replacing “Succession”
Following “Succession,” HBO put the controversial drama “The Idol” in its coveted 9 p.m. time slot on Sunday night. The five-episode series, which premiered at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and stars Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye and Lily-Rose Depp, failed to crack 1 million viewers in its initial debut on June 4. While the premiere is now outpacing the premiere viewership for the first seasons of “Euphoria” and “The White Lotus” at the same point in time, viewership for the second episode of “The Idol” fell 12.4% from the premiere.
Other upcoming HBO and Max programming includes the third season of “The Righteous Gemstones”; the second seasons of “And Just Like That” and “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty”; “True Detective,” which is slated to premiere this fall; Team Downey’s “The Sympathizer,” which is in post-production; and “The Regime” starring Kate Winslet, which will soon wrap production. HBO has also ordered a new, untitled limited series from Brad Inglesby and starring Mark Ruffalo. “Somebody, Somewhere” has been greenlit for a third season.
But the Matthew Rhys-led iteration of “Perry Mason” has been scrapped after two seasons and the writers’ room on the “Game of Thrones” spin-off “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight” has been shut down for the interim of the strike.
The strike’s effects
HBO will have to be innovative about using its existing programming library as well as leveraging other content that is less reliant on writers, Paul Hardart, a former Warner Bros. executive and clinical professor of marketing at NYU’s Stern School of Business, told TheWrap.
“For the most part, HBO’s brand and product line is based on really compelling stories that are written by talented writers,” he added. “So I think they are in a bind just like every other one of their competitors are.”
While HBO continues to leverage a “flywheel effect” with returning programming like “True Detective” and “Euphoria,” Hardart expects HBO to focus on shorter series that can utilize bigger talent that don’t have to be locked in for a long period of time.
Goldman stressed the importance of developing programing that can appeal to audiences both domestically and internationally.
“People have got to start thinking more on a global scale, but maybe not that it’s going to cost you $15 million an episode. Maybe they can get it down to a half million an episode,” he said. “‘White Lotus’ has the opportunity to be this wonderful, franchise anthology.”
A steady hand
Hardart expressed confidence that HBO remains in good hands under the leadership of chief content officer Casey Bloys.
“Bloys has proven to have really good taste. So as much as we try to prognosticate what kind of shows are going to do well, I think having really talented executives helps you shape either mediocre ideas into great ideas or execute on really good ideas,” he said. “One of the strengths they have is the HBO brand and that brand attracts the top talent and that top talent is then managed and nurtured by really good executive talent.”
Ultimately, Goldman believes HBO should continue to focus on “the fundamentals of relatable storytelling that cross many demographics” rather than the volume of programming or winning awards.
“To me, it’s always about the story. If the awards come, great. I’d rather have a satisfied audience member than an award,” he said. “People make such a to-do about tonnage because it’s a boasting pool but most consumers only have so many hours a day that they could spend relaxing and consuming content. So focus more on creativity. People will show you, if you build it, they will come.”
This content was originally published here.
