Cartoon Network returns…on Tubi TV! March 1st!

[Steevy Maximus]

Rather than bump the old Gobots thread, I figure this is worth its own thread. Tubi TV, the ad-supported streaming company, scored a MASSIVE agreement with Warner Bros Discovery for content. While there have been a number of select series already available, like assorted Scooby Doo series, and B-rate action series like Gobots, Silverhawks and Centurions, this new agreement is bringing DOZENS of series into the fold. And not the typical fare, but many classic Cartoon Network series and older acquired content.

Tubi Signs Warner Bros. Discovery Content Deal - TubiTV Corporate

TUBI SIGNS CONTENT DEAL WITH WARNER BROS. DISCOVERY ADDING 14 WB BRANDED FAST CHANNELS AND 225+ AVOD TITLES TOTALING OVER 2,000 […]

corporate.tubitv.com

Keep in mind this list does NOT include dozens of classic Warner Bros (and associated) cartoon content already available on the platform.

https://twitter.com/Tubi/status/2022468701505695953

 

[Pocket]

"We own our own streaming service. Should we bother to put any actual content on it?"

"Nah, let's license it out to some cut-rate free competitor instead."

 

[Steevy Maximus]

Running your own service cost time and money. License stuff out? "Free" money!

I suspect that mentality is why the WBTV "FAST" service has been DOA since announcement a couple years ago: it's just easier and cheaper (with better returns) to just license the content and the content streams to other providers like Tubi, Amazon, and Plex.

 

[Pocket]

Unless they actually shut HBO Max down altogether when I wasn't looking, they're still spending time and money running that. They just took most of the content off it for no reason.

It's entirely possible that Warner's executives are trying to make it go bankrupt on purpose. It's also possible that they're literally cursed, given that every single parent company since the turn of the century has grossly mismanaged it and no other media company seems to have that problem.

 

[Steevy Maximus]

HBO Max is also a subscription service with people paying to offset maintenance costs.
But we're also starting to see pushback to subscriptions as more and more gatekeeping occurred. For a while, WBD was going to launch their own "Pluto" which would have featured their own library content, but it seems more...convenient...to just license out the streams to other providers instead of going through the full effort of launching yet another FAST streamer.

As is, I've seen a LOT more willingness among the big corporations to "play nice" with streaming content. Tubi has had a number of lower tier Disney films (as well as former exclusives like Prey), WB content (like former HBO shows); while Amazon has a deal for films from Paramount and Universal.

 

[LordGigaIce]

"We own our own streaming service. Should we bother to put any actual content on it?"

"Nah, let's license it out to some cut-rate free competitor instead."

And people wonder why Warner Bros is always in financial peril...

 

[ZakuConvoy]

I assume they just don't want to invest in the server expenses. They are trying to sell off the WB part of the business, after all. It makes some sense to minimize your costs, if you don't really plan to benefit from the expenditure in the long term. Keeping HBO Max on life support so that it looks tempting to buyers, but not investing that much into it yourself, so that you aren't building up something you're not planning to keep. Just collecting quick, easy cash you can get right away.

...Mind you, I have no idea who the frontrunner is to buy WB anymore, at this point. I feel like WB is in the middle of the most expensive "Archie Comics" roleplay of all time, teasing both sides but refusing to make a actual choice. Now, who's the "Betty" and who's the "Veronica" in this situation? Paramount or Netflix? Or is this more of a "Veronica vs Cheryl" situation?

...Two companies fighting over another who's a "penniless screwup". Yeah, the Archie metaphor kind of works better than it should.

 

[LBD "Nytetrayn"]

I didn't know they shut Cartoon Network down. D=

 

[ZakuConvoy]

Well...we are down to Teen Titans Go, We Baby Bears, the new Totally Spies, and Prince Ivandoe as the only new shows they air regularly. Totally Spies is acquired programming, and my understanding is that Prince Ivandoe is from the European branch! We are kind of down to a skeleton crew of new shows. The channel isn't dead, but I wouldn't call it healthy, either.

Although, they do have new "Cartoon Cartoon" shorts they're posting over on Youtube. So, that could lead to a few new shows, eventually. I'm pulling for "A for Angel", right now.

Cartoon Cartoons

New Cartoon Cartoons Shorts every Monday!

www.youtube.com

Cartoon Cartoon...MONDAYS! Hmm...doesn't quite have the same ring to it, I'll admit.

 

[Pocket]

A few new shows that will be canceled halfway through their first season to make airtime for more Teen Titans Go reruns, no doubt.