Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav is a businessman, first and foremost. That has made him wildly unpopular at times. From his decision to cancel movies like “Batgirl” for a tax write off to gutting TCM at one point, he often comes across as cold, calculating, and, frankly, out of touch. That said, even a broken clock is right twice a day. And while Zaslav isn’t quite a broken clock, he is absolutely right in his assessment of streaming television.
Speaking at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference, Zaslav talked about a range of topics, including why HBO Max hasn’t cracked down on password sharing just yet and other elements of the media industry as it currently exists. Per The Hollywood Reporter, the executive wasn’t exactly charitable in his assessment of the way most of us experience TV these days. Here’s what he had to say about it:
“The marketplace is really challenged with too many players in the market. When people turn on — the consumers put on their TV, it’s a terrible consumer experience. In almost every market in the world, there’s just way too many choices. And you’re googling, ‘Where is it? How do I get from one to the other? How do I get into that platform?'”
Zaslav has a point. The streaming landscape is flooded with options, including Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, Peacock, Paramount+, and yes, HBO Max, among many others. That’s to say nothing of more niche services, such as Shudder or MUBI. Want to watch “Stranger Things?” You absolutely must subscribe to Netflix. How about “Severance?” Get Apple TV+. The overwhelming sea of choices spread across far too many services is a huge problem the industry has yet to fix.
Basically, it’s hard to argue against Zaslav’s point here. Streaming TV, as it currently exists, is far from an ideal experience.
Does that mean we want to go back to cable TV, with endless commercials and a sea of channels that don’t have much to offer? Not necessarily, but the streaming era isn’t the golden sea change it once seemed like it could be.
It’s frankly not hard to see why so many people are resorting to piracy these days. I’ve never been one to condone piracy, but streaming, as it exists, is cost prohibitive in a way it wasn’t when Netflix first arrived on the scene. Subscribing to every major service on the market would cost well over $100 per month. It’s certainly not cheaper than cable, which was the promise of streaming in the first place.
Unfortunately, it’s only going to get worse. Netflix keeps raising its prices, and much of the industry is following suit. Streaming is only going to get more expensive as time goes on, even if it’s not a particularly good experience. This is where Zaslav began to sound more like his old CEO self again. Speaking further, he explained that, as he sees it, HBO Max is currently under-priced and Warner Bros. Discovery intends to raise that cost in the future:
“The fact that this is quality — and that’s true across our company, motion picture, TV production, and streaming quality — we think that gives us a chance to raise price. We think we’re way underpriced. We’re going to take our time.”
Things will probably get worse before they get better. On the HBO Max front, Warner Bros. Discovery might end up being absorbed by Paramount. Does that mean Paramount+ and HBO Max could become one service? Would that be a good thing? Or would it just be an even bigger, messier, more expensive monster? It certainly looks like consolidation is going to be happening, with Disney getting ready to phase out Hulu soon. Streaming bundles are becoming more common.
Things are changing, that much is certain. Will it make streaming TV better? That remains to be seen. If nothing else, Zaslav, one of the men at the top of the food chain in Hollywood, understands that the experience, as it exists, isn’t great.