AT&T Inc., has announced it plans to offer three versions of a new streaming video service next year that will feature original movies and television series from Warner Bros., Turner and HBO.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the service, intended to help the telecom giant compete with new technology rivals like Netflix Inc. and a similar online system planned by Walt Disney Co. , is part of AT&T’s venture into other fields aside from wireless and traditional pay-TV services.
AT&T had said it planned to launch the streaming service in the fourth quarter of 2019 but hadn’t disclosed many details. Executives didn’t say Thursday at a briefing for analysts how much the tiers would cost or which shows and movies each would include.
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| Randall Stephenson |
The company’s acquisition of Time Warner, renamed WarnerMedia, turned it into a major producer of film and television content, though the larger wireless unit still generates more revenue.
WarnerMedia plans an entry-level streaming service focused on movies, a second tier with original programming and more films and a bundle tier with content from the first two plus classic films, comedy and children’s programming. WarnerMedia chief John Stankey said the bundles would grow over time to include content licensed from other media companies.
“We understand that this product has to be good enough” to get viewers to spend money on it, Mr. Stankey said.
Mr. Stankey said that other media companies should expect to “pivot” in the coming months to adjust to the new strategy that pulls many of WarnerMedia’s movies and TV series off other libraries and onto AT&T’s planned on-demand service.
“Some of the incumbents should expect that their libraries are going to become a lot thinner,” he said.
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