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HBO Max removes 37 kids, factual titles ahead of Discovery+ catalogue merge

Animated children’s show The Fungies!

HBO Max is set to remove 37 more kids and unscripted titles as its parent company Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) continues to make cuts across the breadth of its streaming business.

Removed titles include animated show The Fungies!, factual series Generation Hustle and Ellen DeGeneres-fronted competition series Ellen’s Next Great Designer, with WBD stating the cuts are being made in preparation for the combining of HBO Max and Discovery+.

“As we work toward bringing our content catalogues together under one platform, we will be making changes to the content offering available on both HBO Max and Discovery+,” said a WBD rep. “That will include the removal of some content from both platforms.”

News of the removals comes in the same week that HBO and HBO Max chief content officer Casey Bloys confirmed around 70 layoffs across several US-based departments including unscripted and live-action family programming.

Earlier this month, WBD also confirmed that it would scrap its Batgirl feature, despite the fact that the project was in post-production and had already cost US$90m.

Other titles set to leave the service this week include 2 Dates of Christmas, About Last Night, Aquaman: King of Atlantis, Close Enough, Detention Adventure, Dodo, Elliott from Earth, Esme & Roy, Genera+ion, Infinity Train, Little Ellen, Mao Mao, Heroes of Pure Heart, Messy Goes to Okido, Mia’s Magic Playground, Mighty Magiswords, My Dinner with Herve and My Mom, Your Dad.

“At the same time, we’re already starting to bring our content catalogues together like the launch of the new CNN Originals Hub on Discovery+ and a curated collection of Magnolia Network content coming soon to HBO Max,” added the WBD rep.

Following the official merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery in April, the cuts have been deep and severe as WBD president and CEO David Zaslav and his team look to find US$3bn in annual savings.

A key part of the strategy is the launch of a combined streaming service bringing together HBO Max and Discovery. At the beginning of August, WBD said the service, which will launch under a new name, will go live in the US and Latin America in 2023.

The remaining titles confirmed to leave HBO Max are The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo, Odo, OK K.O.!: Let’s Be Heroes, The Ollie & Moon Show, Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures, Ravi Patel’s Pursuit of Happiness, The Runaway Bunny Special, Select Sesame Street Specials, Make it Big, Make it Small, Share, Squish, Summer Camp Island, Theodosia, Tig n’ Seek, Uncle Grandpa, Victor and Valentino and Yabba Dabba Dinosaurs.

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