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Warner Bros. Discovery's (WBD) HBO to Launch GOT Spin-Offs

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Warner Bros. Discovery’s (WBD - Free Report) brand, Home Box Office (HBO) is leaving no stone unturned to bolster its content portfolio on the back of the Game of Thrones (GOT) franchise.

In this regard, the author of Game of Thrones, George R.R. Martin recently announced that three animated spin-offs of the GOT series will be launched in the world of A Song of Ice & Fire, two of which are on hold and one is being actively worked on. The release date of the animated series is yet to be disclosed.

In this context, George R.R. Martin has also provided some details about one of the series, Nine Voyages, which is about the legendary journeys of the Sea Snake that has transitioned from live-action to animation.

The author cited probable financial constraints in the making of Nine Voyages, as a major portion of the story occurs at sea.  

The series comes as an addition to the upcoming House of the Dragon Season 2, which will debut in the summer of 2024.  

With these efforts, HBO strives to provide customers with a variety of streaming options in the near term.

WBD’s Upcoming Content Lineup  to Fend Off Competitors

Warner Bros. Discovery is set to launch a pipeline of content on HBO, which includes True Detective: Night Country, Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project, On The Roam, The Regime, The Sympathizer, and others that are expected to give tough competition to contenders like Netflix (NFLX - Free Report) and Disney (DIS - Free Report) in the upcoming months.

Netflix plans to unveil several content including Boy Swallows Universe, Orion and the Dark, In Your Dreams, Spellbound, That Christmas, and many more soon.

Netflix is also planning to reward binge-watchers with ad-free episodes to boost user retention. Users who view three episodes in a row will receive one ad-free episode.

Disney is scheduled to launch a bundle ofcontent on Disney+ through 2024, which includes Echo, A Real Bug’s Life, new episodes of Bluey, and others.

Disney also has an ad-supported plan that includes Disney’s exclusive originals and library content.

Apart from Netflix and Disney, Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) is another notable player in the streaming industry. Amazon is set to launch several content on its streaming platform, Amazon Prime Videos, which includes Foe, Role Play, Hazbin Hotel, LOL: Last One Laughing Ireland, and more.

Unlike its competitors, Warner Bros. Discovery also recently provided new subscribers a 70% discount on its ad-supported plan for the initial six months as a part of its Black Friday promotion to attract new users. The upcoming strong pipeline of content on the company’s streaming platform, HBO, is expected to increase customer retention near term.

WBD’s Outlook Strong for the Near Term

In the upcoming quarters, this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company aims to launch the upgraded version of the HBO Max streaming service, Max, in Latin America, the Nordics, Iberia, the Netherlands, Central and Eastern Europe, France and Belgium. This is expected to strengthen the company’s footprint in the global streaming market in the upcoming quarters. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

In the past three months, Warner Bros. Discovery’s shares have returned 13.3% compared with the Zacks Consumer Discretionary sector’s 14.7% rise.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Warner Bros. Discovery’s revenues for 2023 is pegged at $41.28 billion, indicating growth of 22.1% year over year.

The consensus estimate for fourth-quarter 2023 earnings is pegged at 1 cent per share, which has remained unchanged in the past 30 days.


 

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