Movies

‘Westworld’ gets a new home as Warner Bros. Discovery strikes deals – Deadline

January 31, 2023

The distribution plan of Warner Bros. Discovery Westworld and other key shows through FAST Channels came to fruition.

Deals have been struck with Roku and Tubi to launch branded channels this year, bringing over 2,000 hours of total programming to each service.

Deadline had reported that WBD was likely to sell out Westworld and other key titles to FAST channel providers in December, when it was pulled from HBO Max. It came amid a financial review of HBO’s portfolio. Other shows, including Nevers, Raised by wolves and F-Boy Isle were taken down at the same time, as WBD CEO David Zaslav considered new ways to monetize his catalog. Tubi noted Nevers is included in his agreement.

Following the offers, Westworld, The single person, cake boss, say yes to the dress and F-Boy Island will all join The Roku Channel in the spring via Warner Bros-branded channels, while Fox Corp-owned Tubi will launch 14 WB-branded channels and 225 titles on its platform. Westworld, Raised by wolves and F-Boy Island are among them.

Alongside Roku Channels, you’ll find hundreds of TV shows and movies from HBO, HBO Max, Discovery Channel, HGTV, Food Network, TLC, Warner Bros. Pictures and Warner Bros. Television.

Tubi’s deal includes 11 FAST channels focused on genres such as Lifestyle, Homes, Classic Movies, Education, Mysteries & Weddings and several others. New Linear Channel of Unscripted Titles New AVOD titles and services will be cake boss, My cat from hell, Breaking up the Amish and Caribbean life.

Both deals are for the same sets of content and are described by sources as “co-exclusive.”

WBD and Roku called their deal “groundbreaking.” However, while Roku and Tubi are among the biggest players in FAST, the free streaming universe is vast and so the deals could somewhat limit the distribution of shows.

Roku Vice President of Programming Rob Holmes, who is leaving the company following the promotion of David Eilenberg to Chief Content Officer, said: “As FAST continues to explode in popularity among cutters cables, we’re seeing content players increasingly focused on capturing that audience. , bringing some of their best stuff to FAST. The rapid expansion of premium content on FAST is a win for both the viewer and content owner, as well as advertisers looking to reach these audiences through well-known programming.

Adam Lewinson, Tubi’s chief content officer, said “WB-branded FAST channels and on-demand offering will cater to each of Tubi’s distinct audience communities.”

David Decker, president of content sales for Warner Bros. Discovery, said Roku and Tubi “Innovative platforms give us new ways to bring our valuable content to fans across the country.”

Roku has expanded its FAST offering over the past year, adding shows such as AMC Networks and NBCUniversal. Offering 80,000 free movies and programs, it has 70 million global accounts. Tubi has a library of over 48,000 movies and TV shows in total.