AT&T is joining the increasingly crowded landscape of corporate-helmed streaming services, and it’s taking some popular shows with it.
AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said on Tuesday that the company will pull licensed WarnerMedia titles from streaming platforms like Hulu and Netflix in advance of its streaming service debut in late 2019. Those series will likely include Friends, which Netflix dropped $100 million on to keep through 2019, as well as Seinfeld, The Big Bang Theory, and ER. WarnerMedia also owns Frasier and Supernatural, which are both currently on Netflix.
HBO subscribers who use Comcast will have access to series and films on the new streaming service. Stephenson said the new service will net “tens of millions of subscribers,” and it’s not clear if that will be via original shows or existing ones. But having an anchor like HBO doesn’t hurt.
This was announced the same day as Disney took control of Hulu in a deal with Comcast. Disney is also set to launch its streaming service, Disney+, in November. When NBCUniversal debuts its streaming service, Netflix favorite The Office will go with it.
H/T The Verge
