Streaming services are leaning more on pay TV.
Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max will feature more than 200 episodes of recent AMC Networks content for two months. The arrangement will run from Friday through Halloween.
The move comes as media companies look for ways to bolster streaming platforms as they work to become profitable. It also provides a bigger audience for AMC Networks’ pay TV shows, even though the company has its own streaming service, AMC+.
It will also add more programming to Max this fall as the recent writers’ and actors’ strikes halt Hollywood production of TV shows and films.
“Subscribers turn to Max to find a deep and diverse selection of stories for the whole household,” Meredith Gertler, executive vice president, global content strategy, planning and analysis, said in a news release. “The AMC+ collection pop up is an excellent example of how we can use innovative strategies to add value to our content offering.”
The AMC shows offered on Max will be available to both ad-supported and commercial-free subscribers at no additional cost. An “AMC+ Picks on Max” tab will be featured on the app.
The company’s marquee channel, AMC, has been known for hit shows like “Mad Men,” “Breaking Bad” and “The Walking Dead.” However, those shows won’t be available on Max this fall.
- Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, season one
- Dark Winds, season one
- Gangs of London, seasons one and two
- Fear the Walking Dead, seasons one through seven
- Killing Eve, seasons one through four
- A Discovery of Witches, seasons one through three
- Ride with Norman Reedus, seasons one through five
Instead, episodes of newer AMC content, such as “Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire,” “Dark Winds,” “Fear the Walking Dead” – a spinoff of the hit show that concluded recently – and the first four seasons of “Killing Eve” will be available to Max viewers.
The partnership will also give consumers the chance to view this AMC programming, which is featured prominently on its own service AMC+. Fan favorite shows like “Breaking Bad” and its spinoff, “Better Call Saul,” already have licensing deals with Netflix and seasons are featured there.
AMC, WBD face down cord cutting
Like its pay TV peers, AMC has been contending with the changing media landscape as consumers flee the traditional bundle in favor of streaming.Last year AMC laid off a significant number of employees before replacing its interim CEO with Kristin Dolan, spouse of chairman James Dolan.
In a memo to staff during the layoffs, James Dolan called it a “confusing and uncertain time for the TV industry,” CNBC previously reported.
“It was our belief that cord cutting losses would be offset by gains in streaming,” he wrote. “This has not been the case. We are primarily a content company and the mechanisms for the monetization of content are in disarray.”
Last year, AMC and its library of content was being eyed by NBCUniversal’s streaming platform, Peacock, as a potential way to add to its library, CNBC previously reported.
For Warner Bros. Discovery, this shows the continued emphasis on adding to its streaming platform.
Last week, the company announced it would add CNN news as a 24/7 live news hub to Max in late September.
The company is also looking to add sports to the streamer by the start of Major League Baseball playoffs this fall, CNBC previously reported.
Earlier, the company relaunched HBO Max as Max, combining content from Warner Bros. and Discovery+ under one roof.
Disclosure: NBCUniversal is the parent company of CNBC and Peacock.