James Gibbons Addresses WBD Split, Max’s Asian Rollout

James Gibbons, president for the Asia Pacific at Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), discussed the rollout of Max in the region and weighed in on the company’s upcoming spin-off of its channels business at APOS today.

WBD recently unveiled plans to spin-off its linear networks business. The move comes three years since Discovery and WarnerMedia combined their operations.

“We needed to have a model where we could grow HBO Max, stabilize the networks and grow the studios business. That worked very well as an integrated organization because we were able to look at everything holistically. And we gained a lot. Today we have a streaming service that is profitable and growing globally. We have a movie studio that has had a stream of hits. The network side is a stabilized business, but the world has changed in those three years. In order for us to realize the true value of those assets, they need to have financial and investment flexibility. [The separation] will mean that each company will be able to make the decisions that are required to maximize growth in their own part of the business going forward.”

Max arrived in key markets in Asia at the end of last year and landed in Australia earlier this year.  “We’ve launched ten services across Japan, New Zealand, seven markets in Southeast Asia and Greater China and Australia. We’ve clearly established the positioning of the service as premium storytelling that creates talkability. Max is a service that focuses on premium storytelling. I think that’s important in the world where we are today in the streaming landscape—that identity is very clear. The renaming to HBO Max is very much to focus on that message.”

Max delivered its first ad tier in the region with its Australian launch, with Nine handling ad sales. In Japan, meanwhile, it partnered with local streaming giant U-Next. Southeast Asia has also been partnership-focused, Gibbons said.

Addressing a question about the role of regional productions on the streaming platform, Gibbons said, “We understand that in order to increase the addressable market for Max, we will need to go into those categories. It’s a case of watch this space in the coming months.”

Streaming growth is a top priority, as are live experiences. “The chance to serve a fan base with experiences, consumer products and games is just huge. You launched the Harry Potter Studio Tour two years ago in Japan. It’s still solidly booked out. We announced the second Harry Potter Studio Tour in Shanghai. There are many smaller experiences in the consumer product space for that franchise. Then you’ve got the TV series coming soon as well. So whether it’s Harry Potter, DC, or local IP, we’re starting to develop experiences and CP around that. As we grow streaming, the opportunity for experiences will continue to grow as well.”