A bit of news that had long been awaited by sports streaming fans emerged, and it did not go well for media giant Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). In fact, when pricing for the Venu sports streaming package was announced, Warner shares dropped nearly 4% at the time of writing, as apparently, investors weren’t happy.
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Venu is a joint venture between Warner, Disney’s (DIS) ESPN, and Fox’s (FOXA) Fox Sports, which are looking to put up a whole lot of sporting action in one place. And they’re planning to charge like no tomorrow for it, too, with an opening price of $42.99 per month when it goes live this fall. Those interested will be allowed a rather meager seven-day free trial, though as it turns out, the whole thing could still be scuttled by government regulators.
However, this is actually a step down from earlier reports that projected a Venu price tag between $45 and $50 per month, so this is, comparatively, a bargain, if only just. Reports noted that the price is deliberately high to avoid issues of carriage with conventional broadcasters, who might have balked at paying their own carriage fees if the group was just going to launch a cheap streaming platform anyway.
Hefty Losses, Classic Comeback
Meanwhile, Warner is still aggressively trying to win back its NBA rights so that it can offer it as part of Venu. The lawsuit, now filed in New York state court, is going after the NBA for its alleged refusal to accept an offer from WBD that matched Amazon’s (AMZN), which would’ve kept the NBA under Warner’s control. Warner had the right to place a matching offer and have it taken, but the NBA appears to have balked regardless.
In other news, Warner is drawing on some of its most classic content with the revival of the Warner Archive Collection. Reports note that, despite a recent rebranding to Warner Classics, the Warner Archive Collection is, indeed, still the Warner Archive Collection. The move was, essentially, a marketing ploy designed to bring all its classic fare under one handier umbrella. Possibly, it’s even part of those cost-cutting moves we’ve been hearing about of late.
Is Warner Bros Discovery Stock a Good Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on WBD stock based on 10 Buys, six Holds, and one Sell assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 33.67% loss in its share price over the past year, the average WBD price target of $12.50 per share implies 50.33% upside potential.
