Increasingly, many companies involved in providing television channels—linear content, as some call it—are getting out of those channels, considering it a bad investment in a dying medium. And entertainment giant Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), which is one firm involved in linear television, is making similar moves itself. Not everyone is happy about it, but investors are over the moon, having sent Warner shares blasting up nearly 5% in the closing minutes of Wednesday’s trading.
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The move from Max back to HBO Max, reports note, will actually come with significantly less HBO to go around. Warner is reportedly shutting down HBO Family, MovieMax, OuterMax, and ThrillerMax. Subscribers grew confused, reports noted, particularly over HBO Family. Several subscribers were not even sure just what HBO Family was, or what shows it covered. Attempts to contact support teams, meanwhile, have reportedly gone unanswered.
HBO Family was one of several HBO sub-channels, which started back in 1996 and contained shows like Crashbox and Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child. The channel also offered a large slate of family-friendly movies. Reports suggest that HBO Family’s shutdown will spell the end to HBO Family content, though subscribers will still be able to get in on the larger HBO Max library. This is an oddly messy and disruptive shutdown, and hopefully, Warner will find a way to make it up to said subscribers before they go to one of the many alternatives available.
Harry Potter Series Release Date
Meanwhile, those interested in the upcoming Harry Potter series release will be happy to know that there is a release date attached. Well, a release year, at any rate; the series is expected to go live on HBO and HBO Max in 2027.
The series is expected to run for the next decade, reports note, and will be a “…faithful adaptation of the beloved Harry Potter books.” The movies, which were somewhat less faithful, will still be available via HBO Max.
Is WBD Stock a Good Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on WBD stock based on 10 Buys and eight Holds assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 44.59% rally in its share price over the past year, the average WBD price target of $13 per share implies 3.34% upside potential.
