“Live children’s and family programming will not be part of our focus for the immediate future,” an HBO Max spokesperson said. And Children’s screen confirmed that the streamer has canceled the comedy from Sony Pictures Television Chronicles of Gordita (photo) as part of this change in strategy.
The comedy, which ran for one season, features a 12-year-old Dominican girl who must adjust to life in a new country when her family moves to Miami. Actress Eva Longoria (Desperate Housewives) serves as an executive producer on the series and directed its pilot.
The company also dropped two big-budget movies for younger viewers – live-actioner bat girl and Scoob! : The holiday haunt— apparently as part of a move to return to theatrical releases instead of direct streaming.
This move away from live kids content at HBO Max follows some major post-merger shakeups in Warner Bros.’ kids divisions. Discovery. Tom Ascheim (president of kids, young adults and classics) left in May and his tenure was merged with the portfolio of Discovery’s lifestyle brand manager Kathleen Finch. She now oversees all linear networks, including Cartoon Network and Boomerang.
Several other staff members have also left the company in recent months, including APAC children’s manager Leslie Lee. The leadership changes come as Warner Bros. Discovery is seeking $3 billion in savings expected from the companies merging in April.
In the months that followed, HBO Max’s kids and family strategy was split between ordering and acquiring animated and live-action content. It lights up green Chelm: the smartest place in the world by comedian Sacha Baron Cohen and took over animation from Silvergate Media Octonauts series for Latin America. But he’s also taken steps to expand his live-action slate, ordering a new Degrassi series from WildBrain and teaming up with Cartoon Network to order a pair of American Girl specials, a musical and a teen romance. in two parts called B-liked.
Interestingly, research firm Parrot Analytics calculated that children’s content was one of the most requested genres on HBO Max in the fourth quarter of 2021. With a 14.7% share of total demand, it doesn’t was surpassed only by animation (15.4%), comedy (22.7%). %) and drama (24.9%).