HBO Max's Purge Of Shows Like Westworld Has Been 'A Win' For Tubi [ATX]
The entire media landscape is in a serious transition period right now. Yes, streaming is the future (and that is why the Writer's Guild of America is on strike right now), but that future is probably going to look more like traditional TV than anyone thought a handful of years ago.
Part of that has to do with ad-supported, video-on-demand services (AVOD) such as Tubi, which have become quite popular in recent years — particularly for those of us who are tired of paying for any number of subscription-based services such as Netflix. But Tubi, in particular, has oddly benefited from what has been generated by other major services on the market, particularly HBO Max (before it simply became Max).
I was on hand at the ATX Television Festival for a panel called "FAST, AVOD, and the Return to Ad-Supported TV," where Samuel Harowitz, the VP of Content Acquisition and Partnerships at Tubi, was a guest. During the panel, the subject of shows such as "Westworld" and "The Nevers" that Tubi got the rights to after they were removed from HBO Max as a cost-saving measure by Warner Bros. Discovery came up. According to Harowitz, the deal has been fruitful for Tubi:
"We premiered the back six episodes of 'The Nevers,' that never aired anywhere else. I think that's a testament to our partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery, we've got to give them a big shout-out for being innovative and [thinking] outside of the box. I can't comment on the strategy behind pulling it down, necessarily, from their service. But I think that for us at Tubi, and generally for the television-viewing public, it was a win. It took shows that were only available on cable, previously, and brought it to anyone and everyone who wanted to tune in and watch on an ad-supported streaming service."
Jumping at a unique opportunity
What we're seeing more and more is that services like Max are going to remove shows and movies that aren't being streamed a lot to save on paying out royalties. However, rather than just let those shows and movies collect dust, they will be licensed elsewhere to generate revenue. And, as Harowitz, points out, that has given millions of people access to shows like "Westworld" who previously weren't subscribed to HBO. "I think at the end of the day [there's] equal benefit to consumers," he concluded.
"We're a couple of months into our partnership and we're seeing a lot of good momentum, we're seeing people engage with those channels," Horowitz added. "It's just a really broad swath of programming that really adds to the depth and breadth of what we can offer to [Tubi viewers]." Speaking a little bit more about the deal Tubi made with WBD, Harowitz indicated that they didn't hesitate to save the shows that were being dumped from HBO Max.
"When you have one of the oldest and most storied TV studios in the business come to you with a unique opportunity, you jump on it."
'Perhaps I made a phone call yesterday...'
As evidence that Warner Bros. Discovery is not alone in this way of doing business, Disney recently made the decision to remove dozens ofTV shows and movies from both Disney+ and Hulu. Those shows and movies now face an uncertain future, as many of them aren't available anywhere now. Rather notably, most of these projects are not given a physical media release, so audiences don't even have that to fall back on.
Some of the projects that were removed by Disney include "Willow," "Big Shot," "Artemis Fowl," "Little Demon," "Magic Camp," and "The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers." It's easy to see how those (amongst other titles) could be attractive to a service like Tubi. As such, Harowitz was asked if they were going to make a play for Disney's recent removals, much as they did with Warner Bros. Discovery. Harowitz played coy, though he also tipped his hand a bit.
"It really depends on a case-by-case basis, but also, at least at Tubi, we look at where we're seeing customer signals that drive the addition of those shows. We have a great relationship with Disney, we do a lot with them on the movie and TV side. So perhaps I made a phone call yesterday. Perhaps I'll hear back today."
So don't be surprised if we soon run into a situation where you can watch Marvel's "Runaways" or the "Turner & Hooch" TV show on Tubi as well.