After years of talk — mostly by the previous corporate regime — a live sports streaming tier is finally coming to Max.The $10-a-month streaming add-on will go live on October 5, just before the start of the Major League Baseball playoffs. Live coverage of the NBA, NHL and NCAA March Madness will be simulcast on Max, though linear networks will still carry the action — a key point of difference with other streaming offerings. The tier will only be available as part of Max, and existing subscribers will get free access during a trial period ending next February 29 before they are asked to pay for it.It’s a big leap for Warner Bros. Discovery, whose corporate ancestor, WarnerMedia, saw a previous sports streaming venture, B/R Live, quickly fizzle due to glitchy tech and trouble securing enough must-see live events.JB Perrette, CEO and President, Global Streaming and Games, and Luis Silberwasser, Chairman and CEO, Warner Bros. Discovery Sports, spoke with Deadline about the Max initiative. They addressed takeaways from prior stand-alone sports streaming efforts in the U.S. and in Europe; how the Bleacher Report-branded add-on will position the company for its upcoming renewal talks with the NBA; and also how they manage pay-TV distributor relationships while moving deeper into streaming. That last point has become a land mine in distribution negotiations across the industry, as the recent Spectrum meltdown between Charter and Disney vividly demonstrated.
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