lightsongtheold t1_j9m8dp5 wrote
Reply to comment by drelos in HBO’s Leading Man: Casey Bloys on Perfecting ‘The Last of Us,’ HBO Max Streaming Merger and Axing Shows by misana123
That was the previous executive team. They wanted Max to build out both the target audience and the volume of shows. Which they did. In 2022 we got 23 scripted originals airing on HBO and another 23 scripted shows airing as Max originals. The new regime are obviously looking to reduce that volume a good bit to get the financials looking healthier. Most of the cuts will be on the Max end.
The other issue is the Max shows were supposed to target a difference audience to the regular HBO shows. More blockbuster than prestige or target underserved demos. The result was some shows like Raised By Wolves, Titans, Doom Patrol, and Peacemaker that would not work as regular HBO shows but did target a younger male demo. Then you had the female skewing shows like And Just Like That, Gossip Girl, Julia, Pretty Little Liars, Sex Lives of College Girls, Made For Love, The Flight Attendant, etc that gave the HBO Max service a better male/female demo balance than the regular HBO shows offered.
The big issue is shows like Hacks and Julia felt just like HBO shows. The biggest issue was that shows like Tokyo Vice, The Staircase, Station Eleven, Our Flag Means Death, and the upcoming Love & Death limited series are all just shows that feel exactly like regular HBO shows and target their core demo. All great shows but they did not really broaden the reach of the service as was the original intention of the Max originals.
They want more distinction between the HBO and Max originals in the future. With the aim being that the Max shows will be used to attract a new audience to the service and broaden its overall reach. Max shows will probably lean a lot more into established IP in the future like DC and spin-offs from movies franchises like Dune and It.
Be interesting to see how it plays out in the coming years. Most of the stuff we will get in 2023 and probably the bulk of 2024 will be stuff that has been in the works under the previous direction so we will likely not see the impact of this recent harder pivot until we get newer shows in 2025.
I’ll be very interested to see if regular HBO keeps its 23 scripted shows volume in 2023. They promised not to cut regular HBO programming but I’ve got my doubts they will match the 2022 volume in 2023.
archlector t1_j9n27w2 wrote
Isn't the 2023 volume also finalised way before this pivot?
I think the other big, unsaid, thing here is that they are clearly going to decrease the total volume of big budget shows that they commission. For instance, I doubt we are getting another original blockbuster sci-fi or fantasy show from HBO (or Max) under this new regime.
lightsongtheold t1_j9n5bcd wrote
They have scope to push back shows and space them out a bit more to lower the overall volume output. It just means they will not need to order so many new shows for a spell as shows planed for the last half of 2023 can be pushed to the front half of 2024. They can easily sit on limited series and they have already cleaned out the ongoing roster by axing a whole bunch of shows. Then you have the fact that the real big budget shows like House of the Dragon, The Last of Us, and even Perry Mason are already on 2 year gaps between new seasons. Even the regular dramas (think Succession, The Gilded Age, Euphoria) are on 18 month timelines. All that will help them reduce that combined 46 show volume they had in 2022.
I think we will get more big budget HBO shows even under this regime. I just do not expect any more big expensive dramas until they start to wrap a few of the ongoing series. We will definitely not be getting any new fantasy of sci-fi shows until House of the Dragon and The Last of Us wrap. Not at HBO. On the other hand it does seem like the Max originals are going to be all in on DCU shows and movie spinoffs TV shows from It, Dune, and The Batman. So less prestige and original genre fare but we will still get genre shows of this type from Max. Which is better than nothing even if it means no more original stuff like Raised by Wolves.
I think this new regime will be quicker to cancel the shows that do not find a good audience and less interested in ordering such shows in the first place. Which means less niche shows like Los Espookys, Gentlemen Jack, Betty, etc being ordered in general and most being cancelled after a single season if they do not garner big viewership ratings.
archlector t1_j9n99e7 wrote
I agree with most of what you said except that only getting movie spin-offs for genre shows is better than nothing, I would rather have nothing.
drelos t1_j9mfc4g wrote
great response
Autumnrain t1_j9nvr4l wrote
> Then you had the female skewing shows like And Just Like That, Gossip Girl, Julia, Pretty Little Liars, Sex Lives of College Girls, Made For Love, The Flight Attendant,
Why did they cancel Minx then?
lightsongtheold t1_j9p5ecl wrote
Same reason they cancelled Gossip Girl and Love Life. They are significantly cutting the volume output to save cash so eliminated the worst performing shows on a cost to viewership ratio.
joseantoniolat t1_ja7jxdl wrote
Minx is being moved to Starz. and its not a WB/HBO production but Lionsgate
Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments