“Insecure” is now officially available to stream on Netflix, the first HBO original to launch on the streamer under a new licensing deal with Warner Bros. Discovery.
It was first reported on June 20 that WBD was in talks to license some of their original shows to Netflix. In addition, the streamer has confirmed that “Band of Brothers,” “The Pacific,” “Six Feet Under,” and “Ballers” will be coming to the service at a later date. “True Blood,” which also currently streams on Hulu, will be available to Netflix subscribers outside the U.S. All of the shows remain available to stream on Max (formerly HBO Max) as well.
The deal marks the latest shift in content strategy at Warner Bros. Discovery under the David Zaslav regime. In January, Warner Bros. Discovery made licensing moves by partnering with Roku and Tubi to launch free, ad-supported channels with HBO shows. The FAST channels included all seasons of shows like “Westworld,” “Raised by Wolves,” “Legendary,” “FBoy Island,” “The Nevers,” “Finding Magic Mike,” “Head of the Class,” “The Time Traveler’s Wife” and more. In 2014, HBO and Amazon reached an exclusive licensing deal to stream shows like “the Sopranos,” “Boardwalk Empire,” “True Blood” and more on Amazon Prime Video.
In recent months, Zaslav has vowed to open up the Warner Bros. and HBO library for licensing and windowing beyond WBD platforms. That’s a big shift from the previous regime’s focus on channeling the company’s top content to build up Max. But for Warner Bros., selling TV shows and movies for top dollar to expose them to audiences around the world was simply business as usual, until the TV industry’s streaming wars revved up in 2018 and 2019. Now, Warner Bros. Discovery can’t afford to turn away the licensing opportunities that are available for shows like “Insecure,” which would undoubtedly reach millions of new viewers on Netflix’s platform.