WBD U.K. Top Executive Touts Benefits of Streaming Bundles, Calls Netflix Their "Mainstay"

Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Author: Georg Szalai

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The reinvention of the streaming model was in focus at a London conference on Tuesday, with Andrew Georgiou, president and managing director of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) U.K. & Ireland and WBD Sports Europe, Amazon's Prime Video U.K. managing director Chris Bird, Roku country manager Richard Halton, and Arqiva CEO Shuja Khan joining a panel discussion on the topic moderated by BAFTA CEO Jane Millichip.

Speaking at Deloitte's Media & Telecoms 2024 and Beyond Conference, Georgiou reiterated WBD's guidance that it will hit a $1 billion streaming profit in 2025, with 125 million-plus subscribers. After the industry's initial focus on "subscriber growth at all costs," he said that for WBD and others it is now all about "how do we get to a scaled global streaming business that is profitable." He added: "As a business, we say, by the end of next year, we are $1 billion profitable with 125 million-plus subscribers, so we have a high degree of confidence."

The bundling of services can help with customer retention, given a rate of churn reaching 30 percent in the U.S. and elsewhere, Georgiou said, with consumers rotating in and out of various services. "That phenomenon in the U.K. and other markets is a huge cost of business and reducing that churn, increasing engagement and reducing the cost of winback is something that we all need."

He also argued that "Netflix is probably the mainstay of the streaming bundle."

He also mentioned that WBD streamer Max will "hopefully" launch in the U.K. in 2026. Currently, Comcast's Sky has a deal for HBO content in the country.

Some media and entertainment industry analysts have crowned Netflix the king of streaming as Hollywood giants have struggled with getting closer to streaming profitability. Various companies, including Netflix, have launched and promoted advertising tiers to grow their addressable market of possible subscribers and revenue.

In June 2023, Amazon said that it invested in excess of 4.2 billion pounds, or $5.4 billion based on currency exchange rates at the time, in the U.K. creative industries since 2010, spending that it claims has contributed some 4.8 billion pounds ($6.1 billion) of gross value -- alongside supporting more than 16,000 jobs -- to the U.K. economy.