HBO Max has confirmed that it will remove 36 shows, including 20 originals, from its service before the merging process with Discovery+ begins. This move has caused a sense of dissatisfaction among artists.
A few weeks ago, Warner Bros. Discovery announced that HBO Max and Discovery+ will merge in the summer of 2023. The union of two of the greatest streaming series in the market could bring many benefits to users, as they have already started to lend content to each other. However, following the merger, the company also decided to lay off some of its staff working on reality and kids programming. The move is now affecting 36 shows on the HBO Max platform.
36 shows are leaving HBO Max
According to Variety, HBO Max is removing lesser-watched programs to cut costs and focus on residuals. However, among the removed shows, you can find titles like the Sesame Street spinoff, The Not-too-Late-Show with Elmo, or My Dinner with Hervé by Peter Dinklage. HBO Max is also removing some of its Cartoon Network programs.
“As we work toward bringing our content catalogs together under one platform, we will be making changes to the content offering available on both HBO Max and discovery+,” HBO Max said to Variety. “That will include the removal of some content from both platforms.”
HBO Max has not yet announced the exact time it will remove these shows from its platform, but it shouldn’t take too long and could happen in the coming weeks. So if your favorite show is among the blacklisted items, you still have time for a farewell watching.
But artists are not happy with this decision as it can affect their income and prevent people from finding their works. The artists whose works are about to be removed should look for another place. Summer Camp Island creator Julia Pott opposed the decision, saying, “episodes we worked on for two years during a pandemic would never be released.”
This picture of our crew represents 37 teams of artists who found out online that their shows were being stripped from HBO MAX and for some, episodes we worked on for two years during a pandemic would never be released. @discoveryplus has no respect for artists. pic.twitter.com/z1KxrHfs5c
— Julia Pott (@juliapott) August 18, 2022