WarnerMedia buys You.i TV ahead of HBO Max global expansion

AT&T’s WarnerMedia has acquired You.i TV, a provider of cross-platform development tools for TV and media companies.

The companies did not disclose financial terms for the deal.

WarnerMedia and other affiliates of AT&T are already using You.i TV technology for apps including AT&T TV Now, TNT, TBS, truTV, B/R Live, Rooster Teeth, DirecTV Go in Latin America, WarnerMedia International and the WarnerMedia RIDE in-car entertainment experience in partnership with AT&T and General Motors.

AT&T said it will use the You.i Engine One technology to deploy the HBO Max direct-to-consumer offering to different platforms in markets worldwide. In 2021, HBO Max is expected to expand into Latin America and HBO branded streaming services in Europe will begin to be upgraded to HBO Max.

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The You.i Engine One enterprise development platform can build video apps for mobile, tablet, game consoles, streaming devices, set-top boxes, and smart TVs using a single codebase. That means developers can build app features and make user experience changes once and then deploy across a variety of devices and operating systems. WarnerMedia has been an investor in You.i TV since 2016, and Jason Press, executive vice president of direct-to-consumer technology and program management at WarnerMedia, joined the You.i TV board of directors in 2019.

“The You.i Engine One technology, and the development teams behind it, are best-in-class,” said Press in a statement. “The You.i platform will enhance the HBO Max technology stack, increase developer efficiency, and accelerate delivery as we bring HBO Max to consumer devices all around the world.”

In September, You.i TV launched version 6.0 of Engine One, which updated the platform to React Native 0.60 and added open-source, ES6 compliant Hermes JavaScript interpreter. The company also introduced a Developer Resources initiative, which it said includes “modules, samples, and other useful artifacts that emerged from our services engagements with existing customers.”