So, what’s going on? The media landscape is decidedly different from the early days of the pandemic, and HBO Max remains in flux.
There’s a myriad of reasons why HBO Max is removing shows like “Generation,” “Infinity Train,” “Vinyl,” and “The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo.”
But it breaks down to three key areas: cost-cutting, a shift in the overall content strategy and ridding the service of content that subscribers weren’t watching.
Wait, cost-cutting? Doesn’t HBO Max own this content?
Just because content lives on a service doesn’t mean that it’s free after sunk costs.
Streaming services still must pay residuals to casts and crews of a production, and those costs pile up. HBO Max will save “north of $100 million annually” after removing the shows, according to a source familiar with HBO’s decision.
Warner Bros. Discovery has told investors that it will cut a total of $3 billion in costs at the company, so every little bit helps.
“Keeping…
