Warner Bros. Discovery’s James Gibbons

After almost two years of restructuring and realignment, the leadership at Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) has been stressing the firm’s “one-company” mindset as it looks to best position itself for the challenging times ahead. James Gibbons, the recently installed president for the Asia Pacific at Warner Bros. Discovery, is aware of the pain points amid a difficult economic climate and weakened ad market, but remains confident in the com­pany’s ability to bring its wealth of popular brands and franchises to consumers wherever they are, be it on linear, streaming or via in-person experiences. In his first interview since taking on oversight for a merged regional operation, Gibbons discusses the upcoming launch of Max in Asia in 2024, the continued importance of third-party distribution, investments in local content and the potential to expand its live experiences business.

WS: What’s your overall strategy for the combined AsiaPac operation you now oversee?
GIBBONS: The point of bringing the region together is to have one team working toward a common goal: to grow the region to the potential that we believe it deserves. We have country managers for the key markets and vertical specialists in charge of streaming, strategy, marketing, theatrical, consumer products and games. We are working toward a common goal: to reach all possible fans of our IP within a healthy business model. Whether you’re delivering a game, a streaming ser­vice, a network or a consumer product, we’re trying to ensure that we’re reaching everyone who loves that IP in a way that makes commercial sense. That’s the big picture.

We believe that next year, we can grow all segments. Our theatrical slate has fully bounced back from the pandemic. This year, we put a strong foot forward with releases like Barbie. Next year, we have a full slate with great new movies and fantastic returning franchises. Streaming is huge for us because next year is the launch of Max in AsiaPac. And then consumer products and themed experiences. The best example is Wizarding World. That franchise is living and breathing every day as a themed experience and in consumer products. The Warner Bros. Studio Tour Tokyo—The Making of Harry Potter launch in Japan this year was amazing.

WS: What can you tell us about the Max AsiaPac expansion?
GIBBONS: We’re committed to rolling out in AsiaPac. Converting the regional HBO GO service is a starting point. We’ll ensure those consumers are fully transitioned to the new product, so Southeast Asia will be a key part of the rollout. We have also talked about our ambitions in Australia and New Zealand. We’ve consciously postponed the rollout of Max in India. We have a partnership with Reliance there, so we won’t be launching direct-to-consumer within this time frame. But all the rest of the markets in the region are part of our ambition.

WS: What’s your message to clients heading to ATF this December about WBD’s position as both a content supplier and a global streamer?
GIBBONS: We’re open for business as far as content licensing is concerned. We’re a content company, and we reach consumers by different means. Reaching those consumers via third-party relationships is key. We have Warner Bros. International Television Production in Australia, which produces some shows for us, all the local broadcasters and Foxtel. We announced a movie with Binge recently. Our core output may go on our networks, our streaming platform and third parties. The streaming service is the place where consumers can expect to be able to enjoy the content that we produce. At the same time, we will be working with third parties to ensure that content reaches consumers wherever they are. We will continue to license, whether we do this co-exclusively, or we may do exclusive deals like the one in India. It’s not binary because the distribution system isn’t binary in terms of where the consumers are and how to reach them.

WS: Tell us about the investments you’re making in producing across the region, whether for your services or third parties.
GIBBONS: We have a commitment to independent production in Australia. There are key franchises we produce for our platforms around the world, like Aussie Gold Hunters. We’ve produced a number of Thai titles, reality shows like The Bachelor Indonesia, and kids’ series in India, including Little Singham. We’ve just rolled out a Chinese drama on HBO GO that is doing well called Scent of Time. Going forward, we see the role of AsiaPac not only as a distribution market but as a source of content for our company globally. There are three areas where this is certainly true. One is Japan, where we have an animation studio that produces five or six series a year. Those series are mainly with third parties right now. We are committed to growing and expanding that business. You can expect to see more activity on the anime front, especially taking our IP and localizing it. We had a Batman Ninja anime movie a few years back, and have announced that we’re working on a new Suicide Squad ISEKAI series. That’s an important part of how we can build for the future.

We recognize in Korea, we have yet to be an active player directly in the scripted production. That’s an area of interest. The other is Chinese-language content. We want to explore the possibility of developing that sector and working with Chinese partners to build a market for that content.

WS: Let’s talk about the pay-TV channels space. I know revenues are declining, but the landscape still seems pretty robust. How are you working with your affiliate partners as they navigate cord-cutting and a shift to streaming?
GIBBONS: We’ve kept our channels in business. Our portfolio is an integral part of pay TV. We also believe that once the streaming model settles down, aggregators will still be an important way consumers get their content. No one knows the aggregation business better than the pay-TV companies. And there are going to be linear channels in the streaming world. This is not a world where linear channels vanish. They’ll be delivered by IP and bundled differently. Since we share that belief with our pay-TV partners, we can craft partnerships built on mutual interest to help the whole aggregation package transition to the future. We are not the only ones transitioning; it’s also the pay-TV companies. We aspire to work with them to achieve that. You see that in our relationships with many of the key operators around the region. We’re coming up with solutions that may be a little different from our competitors.

WS: By all accounts, next year is going to be a difficult one, everywhere. What growth opportunities are you most excited about in AsiaPac? And what are the most significant challenges you expect to have to overcome?
GIBBONS: The theatrical slate is strong, and people are returning to the cinemas, so that’s a good opportunity. We are seeing some trends toward domestic movies in markets like Japan and China, and we have a domestic movie slate in both. On streaming and networks, we expect to see growth with the launch of Max. One of the challenging areas is the advertising business, which we can see globally. But our exposure to advertising is limited in AsiaPac. We do need to pivot to digital ad sales. For example, we are seeing some positive signs in New Zealand, where we have a free-to-air broadcaster. The BVOD product there, ThreeNow, has seen double-digit growth in reach and revenues. The development of the digital advertising market is there. We must be quite tactical about where we go for it, and it will take time to build up. That’s also an opportunity. There are geopolitical risks that always exist in AsiaPac and can have an impact. One of the biggest opportunities for us is rolling out our franchise experiences. In Japan, we see that it continues to grow steadily. Our ability to roll that out in other high-potential markets like China will be an interesting space. Overall, even though 2024 will be a dynamic year, for AsiaPac, I’m looking at more opportunities than challenges.