” Discussions are ongoing “ on the fate in France of emblematic HBO series such as “Game of Thrones” or “The Sopranos”, which disappeared from the OCS catalog at the end of a contract with the prestigious American channel, indicated this Tuesday, January 3 to AFP its owner Warner Bros. Discovery.
“Six Feet Under”, “Sex and the City”, “The Wire”… Since 1er January, the three million subscribers to the Orange channel package no longer have access to around sixty HBO-stamped series, reported the Numerama specialized site.
Only the most recent seasons are still available, such as seasons 1 and 2 of “The White Lotus”, season 1 of “House of the Dragon” (the prequel to “Game of Thrones”) or season 3 of “Succession “.
“Succession”, abuse of power
For others, series fans can now turn to… DVDs and Blu-rays or purchase episodes online.
Merger of HBO Max and Discovery+
In question: the end of the exclusive distribution contract which united HBO and OCS since 2017, their collaboration going back more generally to the creation of the French bouquet in 2008, which had made it its main asset.
It was HBO who decided not to renew this contract, in order to reserve its programs for its home streaming platform, HBO Max, a time expected in France, we explain at OCS.
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But the merger in 2022 of WarnerMedia, its parent company, with Discovery has changed the game, the new group, Warner Bros Discovery, planning to merge the HBO Max and Discovery + platforms, also unavailable in France. Hence the immediate absence of a broadcaster for these productions popular with series fans.
Deficit and for sale
Contacted by AFP, the Warner Bros Discovery group indicated that it wanted “share its content as widely as possible with the French public”. ” Discussions are ongoing “added the same source, planning to“say more soon”without further details.
In the absence of an exclusive broadcaster, agreements could be reached on a case-by-case basis with the various platforms established in France – including OCS -, in particular for the series “The Last of Us”, adaptation of the video game of the same name expected mid -January across the Atlantic, or the sequel to “House of the Dragon”.
“House of the Dragon”, pale copy more embarrassing than the original
Loss-making and for sale, OCS is currently the subject of negotiations between Orange and Canal+.
