The so-called Streaming War began in earnest when all the major studios dropped their own services featuring their respective franchises gathered together. In recent months, Warner Bros. Discovery seemed to be falling to friendly fire, but perhaps the studio is reshaping the conflict, essentially playing both sides of the game.
Embattled Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav recently spoke about the Great HBO Max Content Purge of 2022. He said some cut content could find a home at another network, cable channel or streaming service, though this doesn't seem to apply to Scoob! and Batgirl. These two projects will likely not be released until Warner Bros. Discovery has a year when they don't mind paying back over a hundred million dollars to the IRS. Still, it does mean shows like Bruce Timm's Batman: The Caped Crusader and even currently ongoing shows like Titans or Doom Patrol could switch streamers (again). If anything, it's almost concerning that Netflix, Amazon or even Disney+ hasn't already snatched up the Batman series, but perhaps the corporate jury is still out on whether Warner Bros. Discovery is really in the game to play ball. That could be the reason they're turning to an old TV playbook.
Warner Bros. Discovery Is Exploring an 'Old Media' Strategy
Back when ABC Studios produced Moonlighting for its own network, the industry was scandalized. The thinking then was that if studios produced their own content, it would monopolize television in a dangerous way. The central premise of the Streaming War is that studios would make more money by hoarding all of their popular films, shows and franchises behind their own paywall. It's very much the reason Disney is not licensing the Marvel Cinematic Universe out to different services piecemeal since members of the Merry Marvel Marching Society can mark time right at Disney+.
However, as the nascent HBO Max struggled to find even the same foothold its predecessor HBO Go had, Warner Bros. still licensed out their films. As such, the Harry Potter films toured the various streaming services for short stretches, and was an "event" whenever the Hogwarts gang showed up. The WarnerMedia regime went all-in on HBO Max, placing them right in the race with Netflix and Disney+. Zaslav said that HBO Max made less than half of what the earlier regime invested, though arguably that was the point. Netflix spent with near-reckless abandon to carve out its spot in the original content marketplace.
The 2021 experiment -- while unpopular with filmmakers -- did grow the HBO Max subscription base. It just may not have grown it enough for Warner Bros. Discovery to justify that level of investment. However, offering classic and bespoke shows based on Warner Bros. intellectual property is a way to turn the Streaming War into Streaming Symbiosis.
Warner Bros. Discovery's DC Universe May Not Be the Only One
The new DC Studios brain trust led by James Gunn and Peter Safran have developed a decade-long plan to tell an epic story with one continuity. Warner Bros. Discovery has affirmed that they want one cohesive DC Universe and object to the idea of "four Batmans" [sic] at once. While the character could probably support six concurrent Batmen for longer than anyone expects, DC Studios is right to focus on telling a single story. Yet, just because Warner Bros. Discovery wants their own DC Universe, other streamers and networks could have the others.
Netflix paid a Bruce Wayne-sized fortune for the rights to stream the Arrowverse series. When Batwoman and Superman & Lois went to HBO Max, it seemed like the beginning of the end. Eventually, like with the Marvel and Netflix TV series, the Arrowverse shows would all collect under the HBO Max banner. Interestingly, Zaslav and company could do the opposite and send those two series to Netflix, making it the new home of the Arrowverse. Netflix could actually save Legends of Tomorrow, and expand the universe as they see fit, especially since the streaming service already has The Sandman.
WarnerMedia's strategy to invest in and build up HBO Max never got the chance to pay off. The DCTV series on the streamer currently are unique gems in genre storytelling, and if Warner Bros. Discovery doesn't want them, someone will.