Time Warner Inc. is introducing an online-subscription video service with beloved Warner Bros. cartoon characters like Bugs Bunny and Fred Flintstone.
Separate web offerings featuring Superman or Harry Potter could be on the horizon, according to people familiar with the matter, as Time Warner looks to create new sources of revenue from its stable of popular entertainment assets.
The company’s new animation-themed service, called Boomerang, will offer more than 5,000 episodes of TV shows, including older classics from the company’s library and new original series based on “The Wizard of Oz” and “Wacky Races.” It will debut this spring and cost $4.99 a month, about half the price of Netflix Inc.’s popular online video service.
“This is the first of more announcements,” said Craig Hunegs, a senior executive at Warner Bros.’ TV studio who also oversees its digital network.
Netflix, Alphabet Inc.’s YouTube and Amazon.com Inc. have robbed Time Warner’s TV networks of live viewers and monthly subscribers, a frightening development for a company that makes the majority of its money from cable channels like TBS, TNT and the Cartoon Network. The New York-based company, which is in the process of being sold to AT&T Inc., has responded by experimenting with online services of its own.
Boomerang, a collaboration between Time Warner’s Turner and Warner Bros. units, marks the first time the media giant has gathered its large trove of animated shows in one place online.
“We’re spending a lot of money because we think doing a lot of original animation with greater characters is critical,” Hunegs said.
Warner Bros. will provide the technology to support Boomerang, thanks to the acquisition of streaming service DramaFever, and may create new products of its own. The studio may build online services devoted to film franchises DC Comics and the world of Harry Potter, people familiar with the matter said.
Some of the shows on Boomerang are still available on streaming services like Netflix, but Warner Bros. will change that as soon as current deals expire. “You can imagine everything will be heading to Boomerang,” Hunegs said.
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