WarnerMedia to Launch New Streaming Service in 2019

CBR

By Kevin Melrose

Published Oct 10, 2018

AT&T's WarnerMedia intends to launch a direct-to-consumers streaming service in late 2019 to compete with Netflix and Disney Play.

On the heels of its DC Universe platform, WarnerMedia has announced plans to launch its own streaming service in late 2019.

WarnerMedia is the AT&T division formed in June after its acquisition of Time Warner to house such subsidiaries as Warner Bros. Entertainment, DC Entertainment, HBO, CNN and Turner Broadcasting. The new service is intended to position the company as a direct competitor to Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and the upcoming Disney Play.

“This is another benefit of the AT&T/Time Warner merger," WarnerMedia CEO John Stankey said in a statement released today, "and we are committed to launching a compelling and competitive product that will serve as a complement to our existing businesses and help us to expand our reach by offering a new choice for entertainment with the WarnerMedia collection of films, television series, libraries, documentaries and animation loved by consumers around the world. We expect to create such a compelling product that it will help distributors increase consumer penetration of their current packages and help us successfully reach more customers.”

According to an internal memo quoted by CNN, Stankey intends for WarnerMedia to build on the success already achieved with HBO Now. Pricing and the platform's name are not yet known.

If all goes as planned, WarnerMedia's service will launch late next year, about the same time as Disney rolls out Disney Play, the highly anticipated platform that will not only feature much of the entertainment giant's back catalog, but also such new projects as Jon Favreau's Star Wars: The Mandalorian, rumored Marvel miniseries featuring such characters as Loki and Scarlet Witch, and live-action remakes of Lady and the Tramp and The Sword in the Stone.

Of course, WarnerMedia also has its own expansive library, with DC and Hanna-Barbera properties, the Conjuring universe, Harry Potter and its Fantastic Beasts spinoff, Looney Tunes, Game of Thrones, The Lord of the Rings and The LEGO Movie.