The streaming wars have begun, and HBO Max just became a major contender. With every major media company launching a new streaming service, the battle to obtain IP has commenced. Just recently, Time Warner’s streaming service, HBO Max, announced it will feature all 279 episodes of The Big Bang Theory at its launch in the Spring of 2020. The streaming service will have a rumored starting price of $15.00 a month. However, TBS has confirmed it will continue to air the show until 2028.
While all the services are in a bidding war, Robert Greenblatt, the chairman of Warner Media, is very excited since The Big Bang Theory is one of the biggest show on broadcast television in the in the last decade globally. HBO Wow has also confirmed it will have Friends available to stream.
In the last week, many shows have been sold to a variety of streaming services. The Office, which was previously on Netflix, will be switch to Peacock, NBC Universal’s streaming service, while Netflix snagged Seinfeld, which was previously on Hulu.
I find this so interesting how all the streaming services are in a fight to gather as much IP as possible. The only frustrating thing for me is how much money all of these services are going to cost. While some argue that being able to pick and choose which streaming service to subscribe to is beneficial, I find it to be a burden. These services just feel like cable with less steps. With all that being said, I am excited to see who buys what and which streaming services will survive the war.
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