With 36 movies leaving the service this week, including 20 original films from HBO Max, the company is continuing its content purge. Additionally, there are some acquired programs as well as HBO and Cartoon Network originals. The decision was in line with the significant HBO Max-Discovery+ merger scheduled to occur next year, according to the Variety report that broke the news of the development.
The corporation has been quietly eliminating titles for a few weeks now in order to get ready for the merger. HBO Max will begin airing the Discovery+ reality series from Chip and Joanna Gaines’ Magnolia Network on September 30. This was announced earlier this month during Warner Bros. Discovery’s quarterly earnings call.
What’s happening at HBO Max is so scary from a creator perspective? Like making a show for a streamer, you rarely get a chance for a physical release, or for it to air anywhere else, and being reminded they can just delete it from existence, all your work, your portfolio, awful!
— FlameCon Table A10 | Hamish Steele (@hamishsteele) August 18, 2022
“We will be making modifications to the content selection available on both HBO Max and discovery+ as we continue to consolidate our content inventories under a single platform. In a statement to Variety, the company explained that some content would be taken down from both platforms. In order to find out precisely when these titles will be taken down, we have contacted HBO Max.
For cost-saving purposes and to make room for more recent titles in the integrated service, the corporation is probably deleting titles. While it’s only a money-saving strategy for the streaming behemoths, creators are concerned that their efforts in developing shows may be in vain due to executive decisions.
Although HBO Max has taken down a number of titles recently, including several Warner Bros. movies and HBO TV episodes like “Camping,” “Vinyl,” “Mrs. Fletcher,” and “Run,” the most recent news marks the service’s biggest-ever removal of titles. Additionally, 20 original HBO Max programs will be removed from the platform, including the teen drama “Generation,” the animated anthology program “Infinity Train,” and the reality dating program “12 Dates of Christmas,” which focuses on the holiday season. Whether they will be made accessible on DVD or through rental services is still unknown.
