HBO Max Is Preparing to Spend Big Bucks For The Streaming Rights to THE BIG BANG THEORY, TWO AND A HALF MEN, and Possibly SEINFELD
The streaming battle is heating up as it’s beginning to feel like every network is getting their own streaming service. With NBC coming out with their service, everything is being a little shaken up as they are going to be pulling The Office back to its home network, which has been a major draw to Netflix in years past. Now HBO Max is looking to see which pieces of the pie they can get their hands on. And they’ve got the money to throw at their choices. HBO Max has already shelled out $425 Million for Friends, which will be a total cash cow. Now they are looking to add a few more.
The two Chuck Lorre mega-hits, The Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men, are currently up for grabs and HBO Max has their eye on them. Rumors are saying the two series could go for $1.5 billion. That’s insane! Deadline reports that some of the reason for that price tag is that neither of these series have been streamed before, and both boast good numbers and a lot of seasons, so fans could easily be drawn to watch the shows.
The other series that the streamer would like to get its hands on is the classic, uber-popular series,Seinfeld. Sony currently has the rights to the series, and it is running at Hulu until 2021, but would be a major catch at that time for any streaming service. While I like The Big Bang Theory, I don’t think it would convince me to subscribe to a streaming service. Seinfeld, though, might make me make the jump though. It’s one of our favorite household series, and if it wasn’t on TV so much, I’d make sure I had a way to watch it regularly. Netflix could also be throwing its hat in the ring for the series, as it just lost two of its biggest shows, and they already have a major deal with Jerry Seinfeld for his series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.
I guess we will just have to wait and see where the chips fall. Which of these series are favorites of yours? What old show would make you subscribe to a streaming service?