Why Podcasts Could Be a Differentiator for HBO Max

AT&T's (NYSE: T) HBO Max has its work cut out for it. It's entering a subscription-video-on-demand (SVOD) space that seems to grow more crowded by the day. Competing with industry leader Netflix would be daunting enough even if Disney were not about to do the same. For HBO Max to succeed, it will need to make the most of existing HBO properties and keep producing top-notch original content that subscribers will be willing to pay for.

And that, of course, means knowing what people want to watch. For HBO Max, as well as for streaming competitors like Netflix, Amazon, and Disney, smart investment in original content means knowing and predicting viewers' tastes. And while these tech companies bring lots of analytics to bear on that job, this is not really all that different from market research, pilots, and all of the other methods that movie and TV studios have used to find winning ideas for generations.

What matters is this: The better a streaming company's tools for figuring out what people watch and why, the better positioned that streaming company is to come out with the next big streaming hit. And HBO Max is doing something that may give it an edge in this department: It's making podcasts.

Source Fool.com