EGN NEWS DESK
The dragons are again. And not a second too quickly.
On Sunday, “House of the Dragon,” the “Game of Thrones” prequel collection, will return to HBO for its second season. The present grew to become a bona fide hit in its first season, in 2022, and helped kick off a torrid profitable streak for the community that included the beloved sophomore season of “The White Lotus”; the premiere of a brand new hit, “The Last of Us”; and the embellished ultimate season of “Succession.”
But over the previous 12 months, HBO has encountered a fallow stretch — uncommon for America’s pre-eminent premium tv community.
There have been disappointments (the music drama “The Idol” and the Kate Winslet-starring restricted collection “The Regime,” for example), and delayed premieres due to the double Hollywood strikes final 12 months. According to at least one extensively used business metric, Max, the 13-month-old streaming service that homes HBO’s reveals, has plateaued throughout that point. One high-ranking government at Warner Bros. Discovery, HBO’s mum or dad firm, chalked up Max’s sluggish begin to “most likely the lightest content material slate we’ve ever had.”
HBO’s one-year slowdown may very well be underscored when Emmy nominations arrive subsequent month, normally a trigger for celebration for the community. But in distinction to earlier years, reveals from HBO and Max is not going to be favorites in a number of the main classes, together with drama, a class that HBO dominated at the latest Emmys.
According to some award forecasters, HBO may end third amongst networks in complete nominations, which might be its lowest rating since 1996.
HBO executives acknowledged that they have been anticipating diminished award recognition this 12 months. But they mentioned they have been trying to the months forward, beginning with this weekend.
“Knowing the returning reveals we now have, and the brand new reveals arising, I can inform you I’m feeling superb going into the following 18 months to 2 years,” Casey Bloys, the chairman of HBO and Max content material, mentioned in an interview.
In addition to “House of the Dragon,” Mr. Bloys pointed to a number of collection debuting this 12 months, together with “The Penguin,” starring Colin Farrell; a prequel collection from the “Dune” universe; and a brand new comedy from Armando Iannucci, the creator of “Veep.” Two hits will return subsequent 12 months: “The White Lotus” and “The Last of Us.”
“When I look to the longer term, it’s not an unknown in any respect,” Mr. Bloys mentioned.
Industry insiders have lengthy appeared for indicators of an HBO droop. And given its outsize success over the previous three a long time, it typically attracts extra scrutiny — from viewers and critics — than different networks.
Still, the slowdown comes at a fragile time within the leisure business. The profitable cable bundle is eroding, being changed by the dicey economics of streaming. The Peak TV period has ended, and Hollywood is within the midst of an industrywide contraction.
HBO’s mum or dad firm faces all of these challenges, and extra: The firm has a debt load of roughly $40 billion, and its share value has declined greater than 30 % this 12 months.
When Warner Bros. Discovery was fashioned in 2022, the promise of Max — a mix of Warner Bros. films and reveals, together with these from HBO, and Discovery’s huge provide of unscripted content material — was a giant justification for the merger. The thought was that the mixture may compete extra instantly with streaming giants like Netflix and Amazon Prime.
But engagement on Max — renamed from HBO Max in 2023 — has not been rising. The service accounts for 1.2 % of tv use within the United States, based on Nielsen, simply because it did a 12 months in the past. Netflix’s share is considerably increased (7.6 %), and even middle- or lower-tier providers like Tubi (1.7 %), Roku Channel (1.4 %) and Peacock (1.3 %) now barely eclipse Max. Warner Bros. Discovery, nevertheless, mentioned its streaming division was worthwhile, whereas Peacock, for instance, misplaced almost $3 billion final 12 months.
At a convention this 12 months, JB Perrette, the president of worldwide streaming at Warner Bros. Discovery, acknowledged that the strikes had contributed to a weaker lineup of reveals and flicks. “We had a a lot lighter slate within the second half of the 12 months than we ever anticipated,” he mentioned.
Mr. Bloys mentioned the labor strife slowed the releases of most of the community’s hits — together with delays for “The White Lotus” and “The Last of Us” — and “The Penguin,” a present that Mr. Bloys mentioned he felt “very strongly” about. Another “Game of Thrones” spinoff can be scheduled to premiere subsequent 12 months.
There have been some latest successes. The fourth season of “True Detective” premiered this 12 months, averaging roughly 13 million viewers an episode, greater than the ultimate season of “Succession,” based on the community. The Max unique collection “Hacks” additionally simply completed its critically acclaimed third season.
Still, “Hacks” is more likely to have an uphill climb on the Emmys towards the latest finest comedy winner, the FX and Hulu collection “The Bear.”
Netflix is extensively anticipated to guide all networks in Emmy nominations this 12 months, besting HBO for the primary time in 4 years. It’s additionally attainable that FX, which has one other robust awards contender in “Shogun,” may very well be in a dead warmth with HBO and Max for the second-most nominations. Emmy voting started on Thursday, and nominations can be introduced on July 17.
But to HBO’s executives, questions on whether or not it may possibly keep its excessive requirements are all too acquainted. The community, Mr. Bloys mentioned, has endured “varied durations of hand-wringing” by which the business fixated on any perceived indicators of weak spot.
Shortly after “The Sopranos” led to 2007, for example, rival executives labeled the community “HB-Over.” Similarly, when it encountered a drama drought in 2015, or when “Game of Thrones” went off the air in 2019, the community was peppered with questions on its future.
HBO, to say the least, survived.
Mr. Bloys maintained that it was “completely different this time” as a result of throughout these earlier durations, HBO didn’t have any positive bets ready within the wings. This time, it does, he mentioned.
“Things will occur — Emmys will come and go,” he mentioned. “I believe what serves us is to simply proceed to focus on our personal reveals and doing the very best reveals we are able to.”
