re: Former HBO Max Execs Say WB Discovery's Killing Off Diversity & Courting 'Middle America'

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Outside of a few travel and food shows, it's all Drag Queen shows, hook-up shows like 90 Day Fiance, High School Moms, Transgender shows, Tattoo shows...

...how is that courting Middle America?

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As heartbreaking as it is to say it, Middle America loves the frick out of some trashy arse shows. Especially that pageant shite, high drama (90 Day Fiance, High School Moms), etc.

It goes hand and hand with the Hallmark Channel in their TV portfolios.

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Where HBO Max is popular with diverse groups, single people, and drivers of hybrid cars,

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Holy shite. Are they going to add a Hybrid stripe to the LGBTQ flag now too?

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I like Top Chef and MasterChef, but don't really watch the other stuff. Ironically I fast forward through any "drama".

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Sure.

You're also a guy. I know a shite ton of the SAHM demographic who watches the frick out of Discovery and TLC shite.

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“I don’t think anyone knows just how white the staff is,” one former executive told The Daily Beast.

Former HBO Max staffers say there are barely any non-white people left in the upper ranks of content, with one naming Joey Chavez, an executive vice president of drama, as one of the few people of color still there. Because HBO Max and the original HBO channel operate somewhat independently, one former executive conceded that “there may be one Black woman on the HBO side. Maybe.”

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“In terms of people seeing themselves reflected, whether it’s ethnic or LGBTQ, when you have people who are diverse, the lens with which they evaluate [content] factors in things that I think my white colleagues just don’t think about,” one former executive said.

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This is the type of person who sees forced over-representation as not just "equity" but "quality writing". Everything in their life is filtered through a lens of racial diversity. This is the type of thinking that's killing the media industry. Interestingly enough, that only goes one way as none of the shows on BET have racially blended/balanced primary casts.

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tearing up CNN’s $300 million streaming service CNN+ and vowing to pull the Warner-owned news channel away from “advocacy” journalism.

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Trying to bring a news network back toward objectivity because its lineup currently gets the shite beaten out of it by things like re-runs of Ancient Aliens?

The horror.

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[they] don’t wanna make things that are political, topical, alienate Middle America—more Chip and Joanna,” they said, referring to the home renovation show Fixer Upper: Welcome Home hosted by Chip and Joanna Gaines.

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Speaking of shows with more appeal than CNN's lineup...

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There is a line between “This is interesting and new” and “I’m going to shove this story about a transsexual chimpanzee down your throat.”

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Discovery is the one with the long running show about a transgender teen.

When I say “tranny shite”, I generally don’t mean reality TV but existing IPs which have had unnecessary crap put into it for PC reasons rather than plot reasons.


If something can be entertaining and work plot wise, I will live with it.

I’m less thrilled about some big IPs being potentially strangled in the crib because the writers wanted to frick around with the material.


If an IP fails because the writers fricked around (think Rian Johnson and The Last Jedi), it does permanent damage to the IP and may get it shelved for quite a while or hurt works that follow it even with a different creative team.

I mean, I agree that the stone throwing over executive diversity is silly (and seems pretty obviously like sour grapes from the “former executives”).

That being said, this…

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Discovery is just a very ‘all’ audience, [they] don’t wanna make things that are political, topical, alienate Middle America—more Chip and Joanna

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…doesn’t exactly give me a lot of hope for them.

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Who’d have thunk that it would be good business practice to focus on producing a product that appeals to a wide audience and avoids alienating a large segment of your consumers due to taking stancsz on social/political hot button issues.

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While I don’t rage post against wokeness and a massive misrepresentation of real life in Hollywood, I don’t tend to disagree with OML and imjistafatkid’s takes.

I’ll post about it and make my opinion known but I try not to dig my heels in.

Main reason why is exactly this.

Overrepresentation and wokeness have a shelf life. Stakeholder’s interest weren’t going to beat out shareholders’ interest in the long run. It makes for a nice statement and time of patting yourself on the back, but it doesn’t pay the bills. Making show after show and movie after movie making political points when it doesn’t bring an eyes or a profit can only last so long.

It was an overcorrection that could only last so long.

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Or 600 lb life deal

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That is so last year. They are up to 800 lbs now. Lol.