The blockbuster WarnerMedia-Discovery deal is especially good news for HBO Max, billionaire media mogul John Malone told CNBC’s David Faber.
In an interview that aired Monday, Malone said his previous reservations about HBO Max’s ability to be a dominant player in the crowded digital-streaming landscape will be addressed once the AT&T-owned service is under the same roof as Discovery.
“I thought they were going to struggle with getting the kind of subscriber growth in the U.S. that they were hoping for. And I think, in fact, that’s true,” said Malone, a Discovery board member whose voting stake in the company is more than 25%.
Malone thinks the new firm could join Netflix and Disney+ as a true global powerhouse.
“I think we are not only going to be the third such platform, but I think we’ll be very competitive with the other two in terms of being able to satisfy the entertainment and curiosity and information needs of the world, basically, a worldwide platform,” Malone said.
John MaloneMatthew Staver | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Disney+ ended the fiscal second quarter with 103.6 million subscribers, according to the company. Netflix said last month it had almost 208 million subscribers worldwide.
AT&T said in April that HBO and
