Nine and Foxtel prepare for battle as HBO bosses fly to town

Senior executives from the entertainment behemoth behind series such as House of Dragon, Succession, and White Lotus are coming to Sydney to discuss the future of its shows’ streaming in Australia, a decision that could prove decisive to the long-term viability of local services Stan and Binge.

Staff from HBO’s parent company Warner Bros Discovery will hold meetings this week with key executives from Nine Entertainment Co and Foxtel to assess whether they should launch their own streaming service in Australia or continue to partner with a local provider. Multiple media sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the US company has not decided what it will do when its existing deal with Foxtel expires at the end of next year.

Foxtel, which is controlled by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, outbid Nine Entertainment Co and its streaming service Stan in 2020 for the rights to a range of HBO programs and Warner Bros shows that have underpinned its streaming service, Binge.

The deal, believed to be worth up to $200 million a year at its peak, gave the cable TV and streaming company exclusivity for HBO programs including Game of Thrones, Succession, and Euphoria, and Warner Bros shows such as The Big Bang Theory and Friends.

Foxtel declined to comment. A Nine spokeswoman said: “we don’t speak about specific discussions but we are always interested in great content for our business.” Warner Bros Discovery was contacted for comment.

Foxtel boss Patrick Delany said in September that he expects Warner Bros Discovery to launch its direct-to-consumer service in Australia. Its chief executive, David Zaslav, has unveiled plans for the company, which operates US streaming services HBO Max and Discovery +, to launch a single paid service in the US next summer (it plans to roll out the new service in the Asia Pacific by mid-2024).

Such a move, if it occurs and extends to Australia, would likely result in the removal of popular shows currently on Binge and make it more difficult for it and rival Stan to compete with international streaming platforms. Foxtel and Nine are trying to avoid this scenario by offering alternative ways to showcase the content locally.

The media sources said Nine and Stan executives were planning to discuss a strategic partnership with Warner Bros Discovery, which would allow the latter to run its programs locally without having to launch a standalone service. They said Foxtel was arguing a similar case for its service Binge. For the right amount of money, this could be a preferred option for Warner Bros Discovery. While launching a standalone streaming service may have been a certainty 12 months ago, large media companies are becoming more focused on investment and profits, rather than subscriber growth.