Warner Bros. Creates Digital Division for OTT Video Projects
Warner Bros. has created a division called Warner Bros. Digital Networks (WBDN) to oversee the studio's various over-the-top (OTT) video efforts. Warner Bros. has a variety of owned properties, partnerships, and new offerings in the works.
Owned properties include the popular niche subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service DramaFever, which the studio acquired in February 2016 from SoftBank Group. The studio also created Warner Archive Instant, an SVOD for classic movie lovers.
Warner Bros. has partnerships and investments in Machinima, a network for video game enthusiasts; Ellen DeGeneres's Ellen Digital Ventures; and Uninterrupted, a sports entertainment network created by LeBron James and Maverick Carter.
Besides shepherding existing properties, WBDN has a mandate to expand the studio's OTT efforts. It will do that by working with Time Warner's Turner and HBO divisions to create new offerings.
WBDN will be run by Craig Hunegs, who will be its president, and is also the president of business and strategy for the Warner Bros. Television Group. He'll report to Warner Bros. chairman and CEO Kevin Tsujihara.
“Warner Bros. has a tremendous opportunity to have a more direct relationship with our audiences," Hunegs said. "We're building a great team and we're off to a strong start developing new streaming services. We'll have more to announce in the coming months."
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