Warner Bros. Discovery Says the Exclusivity Era Is Over — And It's Betting Harry Potter on It

At the Enders TMT Leaders Live conference in London on Thursday, Warner Bros. Discovery International President Gerhard Zeiler made the kind of statement that would have been considered heresy in traditional media circles just a few years ago: the exclusivity model is done, and clinging to it is a mistake.

"We have to get rid of this exclusivity mindset that many of us still have," Zeiler told the audience. His argument wasn't that premium content doesn't matter — it's that hoarding everything behind a single paywall is no longer a viable growth strategy. "It's always better to fragment yourself than being fragmented by others."

The practical version of this philosophy looks something like this: flagship titles like House of the Dragon and Euphoria will stay exclusive on HBO Max for the first six to nine months. That window is protected. But a significant portion of WBD's broader programming slate will be pushed out across additional platforms — including YouTube, in long-form, clip, and short-form formats. The goal is reach, not just retention.

Zeiler was also blunt about scale. "Scale is important in today's media world. If someone tells you otherwise, he is not telling you the truth." Being medium-sized, he said flatly, is "not good enough."

This comes as WBD is in the process of being acquired by David Ellison's Paramount Skydance, a deal that would reshape the company's footprint considerably. Zeiler didn't dwell on the specifics of that transaction, but the strategic logic he outlined — get bigger, distribute wider, stop treating every piece of content like a vault asset — fits neatly with the direction a combined entity might take.

On the content side, Zeiler confirmed that WBD will premiere a new Harry Potter series in December 2026 on HBO Max. He recalled that when CEO David Zaslav — who was not confirmed to be at the conference — first said "I want to produce new Harry Potter content," he and other managers were skeptical. They didn't think it was possible. It happened anyway.

Zeiler also noted that the U.S. box office is approaching pre-COVID revenue levels, citing optimism he's been hearing from the American market, though he stopped short of citing specific figures.

Also speaking at the London conference was Andrew Georgiou, WBD's President and Managing Director for U.K. & Ireland and Sports EMEA. Georgiou was candid about HBO Max's late arrival in the U.K. — "we were late to market" — but said the platform has significantly outperformed internal expectations since launch. "When we look at even the ambitious targets that we had around engagement, around individuality, around view rates, brand awareness, we have done exceptionally well," he said.

The broader picture WBD is painting is one of a company trying to be everywhere at once without diluting its premium brand. Whether that balance holds — especially as the Paramount Skydance acquisition moves forward — is the real question. For now, at least, they have a Harry Potter series dropping in six months and a streaming platform in the U.K. that's apparently exceeding its own benchmarks. That's not nothing.

[Original Source](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/wbd-intl-president-opposses-exclusivity-fragment-yourself-1236613655/)