HBO Max removes most of its Romanian content as part of international restructuring
The international streaming platform HBO Max has taken down all Romanian originals from its platform and is ceasing their production in its post-merger restructure.
The two companies that own the HBO Max and Discovery+ platforms, WarnerMedia and Discovery, merged earlier this year in April, becoming Warner Bros. Discovery. According to Reuters, Warner Bros. Discovery's portfolio currently includes Discovery Channel, Warner Bros. Entertainment, CNN, HBO, and Cartoon Network; streaming services Discovery+ and HBO Max, and franchises such as Batman and Harry Potter.
Variety states that Warner Bros. Discovery is experiencing post-merger growing pains, which have led the media conglomerate to pursue a high savings target of USD 3 bln. In order to hit said target, the media giant is altering its programming strategy in Europe and cutting all original HBO productions in Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Netherlands, Turkey, and Central Europe. It is also removing certain content related to these countries from its platform.
In Romania, Libertatea reports that all Romanian originals, such as the newly launched series Ruxx, the very popular Umbre, Hackerville, Tuff Money, and the reality show One True Singer, have been taken down from the platform.
This move has hit the local film and tv production market hard, as the collaborations with HBO Max represented a great opportunity for growth, representing an avenue to a wider audience and enabling the production of complex cinematic creations.
Libertatea spoke to Ruxx’s screenwriter, Vera Ion, who told the newspaper that she and the producer of the show were announced just a day prior to the deletion of the show from the platform and that no reason was given other than the fact that the media conglomerate is focusing on a new strategy. She explained that each of the shows that have been taken down has basically lost their access to an audience, as the rights to each one belong to HBO, meaning that the show creators are not legally enabled to move their shows elsewhere.
"Past the shock, I don’t know if there is anything that can be done. I’ve signed a petition asking them to reconsider their decision," Vera Ion said. She added that she would have liked to see a "slightly more nuanced" strategy for this decision, given that the show "was created with great effort and is a pioneer, as there are not many productions of its kind in Romania."
(Source: HBO Max Facebook page)
