Warner Media cited a dramatic market shift within the pay-TV industry for its decision to pull the plug out of India and other South Asian countries.
HBO and Warner Brothers TV channels to discontinue in India.
Warner Media will soon discontinue HBO and Warner Brothers TV channels in India and other regions. One of the foremost successful media channel, Warner media will soon discontinue their HBO and WB TV channels in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Maldives later this year.
The primary reason behind shutting down of both these channels can be assume that this entertainment conglomerate is unable to seek out a sustainable business model in South Asia despite operating within the region for quite a decade.
The company said that they’re going to drop both these channels i.e. HBO and WB TV, within the aforementioned markets where a cable subscription costs about $4 to $5 a month, on December 15. In India, as an example , it costs but 25 cents to subscribe both HBO (in HD) and WB atop a monthly cable plan, which costs about $2.
While HBO may be a household name within the U.S. and a number of other other developed markets, in India and other South Asian nations, its audience size remains tiny.
Times Internet’s Movies Now, Star Movies and Sony Pix had a considerably larger viewership than HBO in India last month, consistent with Broadcast Audience Research Council, India’s ratings agency.
Warner Media cited a dramatic market shift within the pay-TV industry for its decision. It said it’ll still offer Cartoon Network and Pogo in India, and distribute CNN International within the country.
Siddharth Jain, SVP and director of WarnerMedia’s entertainment network in South Asia, during a statement said ‘ After a successful reigning 20 years within the show business , HBO linear movie channel in South Asia and quite a decade with the WB linear movie channel, this was a difficult decision to form.
The pay-TV industry landscape and therefore the market dynamics have shifted dramatically, and therefore the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the necessity for further change.”
HBO also maintains a content syndication partnership with Disney’s Hotstar in India. therefore the streamer will still offer HBO’s shows like “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” — hopefully with none censorship — within the country.
