DoorDash (DASH) has recently joined forces with Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) to bring the Max streaming service to its premium DashPass clientele, making snack-filled binge-watching sessions of “House of the Dragon” more convenient than ever.
Under this partnership, DashPass annual subscribers can now enjoy Max (with advertisements) as part of their plan, priced at $96 per year—offering a more cost-effective alternative compared to the standalone ad-free Max subscription. Customers also have the option to upgrade to the ad-free version for $10.99 per month.
Following this collaboration, Warner Bros. Discovery saw its shares surge by nearly 5% to $7.02 as of 2:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday. However, the company has faced significant challenges this year, with its stock plummeting approximately 40% and hitting its lowest level since 2009 on Monday.
WBD’s recent financial woes were exacerbated by an almost $10 billion second-quarter loss, primarily due to a substantial write-down in the value of its cable networks. The $9.1 billion non-cash goodwill impairment charge from its cable networks division underscored the persisting struggles faced by flagship networks like CNN and TNT amidst the rise of streaming services.
In a notable setback, the NBA chose Amazon’s reported bid of $1.8 billion over WBD’s matching offer for the broadcasting rights of a package of games, part of a new 11-year, $77 billion media rights agreement. This decision highlighted the competitive landscape, with Amazon’s Prime Video boasting a significantly larger viewer base of around 200 million monthly viewers, approximately double the number of WBD’s streaming customers.
In response to these challenges, Bernstein analyst Laurent Yoon downgraded WBD’s rating to “market-perform” from “neutral,” while slashing the price target to $8 from $10.
This collaboration between DoorDash and Warner Bros. Discovery reflects a broader trend of partnerships between food-delivery services and streaming platforms. Notably, Instacart started offering Peacock to paying Instacart+ subscribers in the U.S. last year, while Amazon recently introduced a free Grubhub+ membership worth $120 per year to its Prime members as part of its loyalty program strategy.
