HBO Max removes 36 movies and shows to cut costs, pivot, and de-clutter
Streaming platform HBO Max removed 36 movies and TV series by the end of the day on Friday, aiming to cut costs, pivot away from children's programming, and de-clutter the platform.
Content being removed includes teen drama Genera+ion, animated series Aquaman: King of Atlantis, and more than 200 episodes of Sesame Street, which HBO Max acquired in 2019.
Although none of the shows and movies being axed were drawing large audiences, the move will still save the company "tens of millions of dollars" in residual payments to cast, crew, and writers, two insiders told CNBC.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
HBO Max is also moving away from kids' programming, which has underperformed, and aiming to avoid deluging users with obscure content — what one executive described as the "Netflix problem."
This news comes as HBO Max prepares to merge with Discovery+. "As we work toward bringing our content catalogues together under one platform, we will be making changes to the content offering available on both" platforms, HBO Max said in a statement earlier this week. One such change was the cancelation of HBO Max original superhero flick Batgirl and the decision to take a tax write-off for the $90 million the streamer had dropped on the project.
Meanwhile, HBO Max is betting big on its Game of Thrones prequel, House of the Dragon. According to Deadline, HBO Max spent $200 million making the show and another $100 million — HBO's biggest marketing campaign ever — promoting it. The series premieres Sunday.
-
Nasa’s new dark matter mapUnder the Radar High-resolution images may help scientists understand the ‘gravitational scaffolding into which everything else falls and is built into galaxies’
-
Is the US about to lose its measles elimination status?Today's Big Question Cases are skyrocketing
-
‘No one is exempt from responsibility, and especially not elite sport circuits’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
The 8 best horror series of all timethe week recommends Lost voyages, haunted houses and the best scares in television history
-
How does A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms compare to Game of Thrones?Talking Point George R.R. Martin prequel is more ‘fun’ but still has plenty of blood and guts
-
Scoundrels, spies and squires in January TVthe week recommends This month’s new releases include ‘The Pitt,’ ‘Industry,’ ‘Ponies’ and ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’
-
‘One Battle After Another’ wins Critics Choice honorsSpeed Read Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio, won best picture at the 31st Critics Choice Awards
-
The best drama TV series of 2025the week recommends From the horrors of death to the hive-mind apocalypse, TV is far from out of great ideas
-
Son arrested over killing of Rob and Michele ReinerSpeed Read Nick, the 32-year-old son of Hollywood director Rob Reiner, has been booked for the murder of his parents
-
The 8 best comedy series of 2025the week recommends From quarterlife crises to Hollywood satires, these were the funniest shows of 2025
-
Rob Reiner, wife dead in ‘apparent homicide’speed read The Reiners, found in their Los Angeles home, ‘had injuries consistent with being stabbed’
