- WarnerMedia CEO John Stankey took to the stage of the VF Summit just after parent AT&T (T +0.3%) dropped a filing announcing plans for an upcoming streaming service that looks to stake out an interesting position in the coming over-the-top content war.
- AT&T already runs a direct-to-consumer live TV offering via DirecTV Now, but the new service looks to leverage AT&T's recent acquisition of the giant Warner entertainment library and take on streaming media's biggest dogs in Netflix (NFLX -4.9%) and Amazon Prime Video (AMZN -3%), as well as next year's launch of a Disney (DIS -1.3%) streaming offering.
- HBO will be part of the new AT&T offering, Stankey says, but customers will see "other strong brands around it."
- "Our service will start with HBO and the genre defining programming that viewers crave. On top of that we will package content from Turner and Warner Bros. with their deep brand connections that touch both diverse interests and mass audiences," Stankey said in an internal memo.
- The price point won't be settled until closer to launch time, but it will be at a premium to that of HBO as a stand-alone service, he says at the VF Summit. HBO Now is offered at a regular (non-promo) price of $14.99/month.
- AT&T's Hulu co-owners: CMCSA -0.5%, DIS -1.3%, FOX -0.2%, FOXA -0.2%.
- Now read: Netflix Shareholders - Buckle In For Q3 Results
Original article