In 2018, WarnerMedia, then newly under AT&T, announced plans to launch a direct to consumer streaming service in late 2019, positioning it as a major competitor to both Disney’s upcoming Disney+ and established players like Netflix. The strategy centered on leveraging WarnerMedia’s deep content library, including HBO, Warner Bros., and Turner networks, to build a unified subscription platform rather than continuing to rely primarily on third party licensing.
The 2018 Announcement
In October 2018, WarnerMedia revealed that it would roll out a new consumer streaming service in the fourth quarter of 2019. The company described the new service as direct to consumer, meaning WarnerMedia would own the relationship with subscribers rather than distributing only through cable bundles or other platforms. The platform was to be built around HBO as a core offering, supplemented by Warner Bros. films and additional WarnerMedia television content. AT&T executive John Stankey emphasized that WarnerMedia had to move beyond being just a content supplier to other streamers and instead become a full competitor in its own right.
Positioning Against Disney+
At the same time, Disney was preparing to launch Disney+, also planned for late 2019, which would aggregate content from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and the newly acquired 21st Century Fox into a single streaming destination. Industry coverage framed WarnerMedia’s service and Disney+ together as a coordinated challenge to Netflix’s dominance and a sign that major studios were shifting to direct streaming models. Analysts expected Disney and WarnerMedia to pull high value titles back from Netflix and other platforms to strengthen their own services. Commentators described 2019 as a turning point in the streaming wars, with Disney and WarnerMedia entering the field as full scale direct competitors rather than wholesale content suppliers.
Planned Service Structure
Early descriptions of the WarnerMedia product outlined a multi tier approach anchored by HBO. The lower tier was envisioned as focusing on movies and catalog content. The middle tier centered on HBO plus additional programming. The higher tier offered a broader WarnerMedia package that included HBO, Warner Bros. titles, and more expansive entertainment options. Leadership signaled that pricing was likely to exceed the then standalone HBO Now price, justified by the increased content breadth and the high perceived value of prestige HBO series combined with Warner Bros. intellectual property.
Content, Licensing, and Strategy Shift
To make the new service competitive with Disney+ and Netflix, WarnerMedia needed to reorient its traditional licensing strategy. A significant portion of WarnerMedia’s premium content, such as major Warner Bros. films and popular television series, was licensed to third party platforms like Netflix for substantial short term revenue. The new strategy required selectively pulling key titles back as contracts expired, reducing external licensing in favor of building an exclusive, subscription driven service. This shift meant trading some immediate licensing income for long term subscriber growth, data ownership, and brand control, aligning WarnerMedia with the same direct to consumer logic Disney was using for Disney+.
Impact on the Streaming Landscape
WarnerMedia’s 2019 streaming plan was widely seen as a cornerstone of a broader industry transition in which major studios sought to consolidate their brands and intellectual property into unified services rather than dispersing them across multiple licensees. The company aimed to compete directly with Netflix and Disney+ on content scale, exclusivity, and user experience, while reclaiming control over distribution, pricing, and customer data instead of depending on third party platforms. Together with Disney+, WarnerMedia’s move helped define the next phase of the streaming era, characterized by fewer, larger, vertically integrated services built around powerful legacy content libraries and marquee franchises.