Posted in: BBC, Doctor Who, TV | Tagged: doctor who, netflix, warner bros discovery

Doctor Who: How Netflix/Warner Bros Discovery Deal Could Impact Show

With Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery making headlines, we examine how Netflix or HBO MAX could play a role in the future of Doctor Who.

Speculation remains rampant about which international streaming service will acquire the rights to Doctor Who now that its Disney+ deal has expired. Who will get Doctor Who? The sky is falling! The news this week that Netflix is going to acquire Warner Brothers Discovery raises a new question: could Netflix or HBO Max get dibs on the series?

This question arises in light of rumours that HBO Max will retain streaming rights to Doctor Who when the streamer launches in Germany and Europe. The modern era of the series that started with Christopher Eccleston, then David Tennant, followed by Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi, up to Jodie Whittaker as the 21st-century incarnations, had been streaming exclusively on HBO MAX in the US until the rights lapsed in 2025. When the rumours arose that Disney was opting out of co-producing further series of Doctor Who, more rumours surfaced that the BBC might have informally started discussing the streaming and co-producing rights with Amazon, Netflix, and HBO Max.

HBO Max had already been the home of modern Doctor Who for years until the rights lapsed in 2025. Which are the largest streaming services with the broadest global reach? That would be Netflix and Amazon Prime. Fans have been speculating ever since, even though it was also reported that the BBC could not speak to other streaming studios until after the Disney deal was officially over, which wouldn't be until The War Between the Land and the Sea premieres on Disney+. Disney+ still hasn't announced a premiere date for the spinoff yet, despite the BBC broadcasting and streaming it in the UK in time for Christmas.

Who Gets Dibs, Netflix or HBO?

With Warner Bros. Discovery getting bought by Netflix, who do you think will call dibs on international streaming rights to the Doctor, Netflix or HBO? HBO has been streaming across Asia for over ten years and is expanding into Europe this year; however, Netflix is already the world's largest streaming service, boasting a long-established global reach. Which do you think should get Doctor Who? And then there's the Sony factor…

Whoever Gets Doctor Who, Sony Wins

Sony is the one studio with no aspirations to form its own streaming service, which keeps it from incurring the losses that the others have. Sony also owns Bad Wolf, the production company behind Doctor Who. Sony has also co-produced television series for virtually every major studio and streamer, including HBO, Netflix, Apple TV, Netflix, Prime Video, and Disney+. This means Sony might have had a stake in the last two series of Doctor Who co-produced by Disney+ by dint of their ownership of Bad Wolf. Do you think Bad Wolf is going to get out of the Doctor Who business? Would they really have spent millions building that massive new TARDIS set if they were? We're not offering our belief or bet, only speculating. All food for thought, questions to ask, and more fun to think about than politics.

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