Barring a huge turnaround, HBO content should no longer be available on OCS on January 1, 2023. Since no buyer has been announced, it is better to hurry to finish what we started watching.
where to watch Game Of Thrones from 1er January 2023? As of this writing, December 28, 2022, no one has a clue. Blame it on the imminent expiration of the contract between HBO and OCS, which began when the channel launched in 2008 (before becoming exclusive in 2017). Initially, the Warner Bros. Discovery planned to launch its own streaming service in France (HBO Max) when its contract with Orange expired. A change in strategy has decided otherwise, since HBO Max is no longer in the group’s plans. As a result, no one really knows what will happen to HBO in a few days.
HBO and OCS, blurry futures in France
Powering some of the most popular programs on the planet (Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon, Westworld, The Sopranos, The Wire, The White Lotus, Succession…), HBO should have no trouble finding a buyer. It is also extremely likely that HBO programs will appear on another platform from 1er January, but that the new broadcaster does not communicate on it out of respect for the OCS contract.
According to several indiscretions, three scenarios are possible:
- Amazon Prime Video, which has already signed a contract with Warner Bros. Discovery to broadcast HBO Max original contents, could temporarily recover HBO contents.
- Canal+, which wants to be essential on films and series, could temporarily recover HBO content.
- Warner Bros. Discovery may have decided not to sign a new contract. Instead, the group would sublicense its content to different platforms. Some hits, like the series The Last of Us, could arrive on Prime Video, while others would go on Canal+. This would remove several content from legal streaming, since not everything will be purchased.
Today, the most likely hypothesis is 3. Even if HBO signs a contract with a broadcaster, it will not enjoy the same exclusivity as OCS before. It would also seem that the OCS contract allows it to keep content recently released on HBO for some time, such as House of the Dragon.
One consequence of this decision is that Game Of Thrones will necessarily be separated from its spin-of on 1er December 2023.
Eventually, the Warner Bros. Discovery is expected to launch its own streaming service in France, presumably under the Discovery+ identity. It doesn’t matter who picks up Game Of Thrones and other HBO content on 1er December, the end result is that they lose them again one day.
Finally, what about the future of OCS? In November, the newspaper Les Echos revealed that Canal+ was preparing to buy the group, for its channels and especially its studios. The future of OCS as a cinema/series package seems very limited, even if OCS will still keep a few exclusives.
