This news would come to many people as a shock, especially those who used to view a lot of movies on HBO and WB TV. The parent company of these channels, Warner Media, who is also one of the biggest mass media and entertainment companies in the US, has decided to discontinue the HBO and WB TV channels in India and Pakistan from December 15, 2020. The channel will also be removed from Maldives and Bangladesh. The company has stated that they were not getting many subscriptions and revenue from the market due to which they have decided to discontinue the channels.
The company mentioned a “dramatic market shift in the pay-TV industry” as the reason behind the closure of the channels. The channels have been running in the country for over a decade now and the sudden closure of the channels state on how such channels are currently performing. As per the official statement from Siddharth Jain, Managing Director of Warner Media in South Asia, “After 20 years of successes for the HBO linear movie channel in South Asia and more than a decade with the WB linear movie channel, this was a difficult decision to make.
The pay-TV industry landscape and the market dynamics have shifted dramatically, and the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the need for further change”. Warner Media has also confirmed that they will be looking at the markets very closely for any kind of opportunity that could put them back in the game. However, for now, it seems we need to say goodbye to these channels forever.