Betwixt Sept. 1 and Oct. 31, Warner Bros. Discovery's streaming platform Max will incorporate content from pay TV company AMC Networks. Media companies are scrutinizing for imaginative methods to amplify their stockpiles and draw in additional viewers, and this agreement allows for Max to showcase over 200 episodes from more recent AMC productions such as "Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire" and "Fear the Walking Dead."
Streaming services are turning to pay TV for assistance. Warner Bros. Discovery Max will showcase over 200 recent AMC Networks episodes for two months, starting from Friday till Halloween. This comes as media companies strive to make streaming platforms more profitable. This move also gives AMC Networks' pay TV programs a larger viewership, even through AMC+ already has its own streaming service. Max will also be receiving a boost of programming this fall as the writers' and actors' strikes put Hollywood's TV and film production on hold. Meredith Gertler, executive vice president of global content strategy, planning and analysis, expressed her view on the matter, “Subscribers turn to Max to find a deep and diverse selection of stories for the whole household. The AMC+ collection pop up is an excellent example of how we can use innovative strategies to add value to our content offering.”The AMC shows highlighted on Max can be accessed by ad-supported and commercial-free subscribers without a fee. The Max app will showcase an “AMC+ Picks on Max” tab. AMC is well-known for its successful programs such as "Mad Men," "Breaking Bad" and "The Walking Dead." Unluckily, these shows won't be included on Max this fall.
Max will host AMC Networks' Interview with the Vampire, season one; Dark Winds, season one; Gangs of London, seasons one and two; Fear the Walking Dead, seasons one through seven; Killing Eve, seasons one through four; A Discovery of Witches, seasons one through three; and Ride with Norman Reedus, seasons one through five.
Instead, AMC shows like "Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire," "Dark Winds," "Fear the Walking Dead" – the same network’s spinoff of the recently completed hit show – and the first four seasons of "Killing Eve" will become available to the Max viewers. This collaboration also offers its patrons the opportunity to watch the prominent AMC lineup, which is broadcasted on its own channel AMC+. Although shows like "Breaking Bad" and its spinoff "Better Call Saul" already have a license agreement with Netflix, Max subscribers will still get to enjoy their favorite shows.
Contending with a shifting media environment, AMC has seen consumers abandon the conventional bundle to opt for streaming. This has prompted the company to take action, letting go of numerous personnel and appointing Kristin Dolan, wife of chairman James Dolan, as the new CEO. Through a memorandum to personnel at the time of the layoffs, James Dolan named it as a “confounding and unsteady period” for the television business, reported by CNBC.
He wrote that, contrary to their expectation, the losses from cord-cutting were not counterbalanced by streaming gains. Given AMC's content library, NBCUniversal's streaming platform Peacock had expressed interest in it last year. This further highlights Warner Bros. Discovery's focus on developing its own streaming platform. Last week, it was announced that they would be introducing CNN news as a 24/7 live news hub on Max in September. Additionally, there are plans to include sports on the streamer in time for the Major League Baseball playoffs this fall. Their recent initiative saw the launch of Max, which combines Warner Bros. and Discovery+ content on a single interface.
* Disclosure: NBCUniversal is the parent company of CNBC and Peacock.
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