WarnerMedia has announced the pricing and release date for their hotly anticipated streaming service HBO Max. Subscribers can look forward to streaming over 10,000 hours of content in the U.S. May 2020 for $14.99 per month.
Already subscribe to HBO? The good news is, you’ll gain access to the service at no additional charge, as will nearly 10 million AT&T customers. If you subscribe to HBO Now, also priced at $15 per month, you’ll also receive access to HBO Max, though you’ll have to be billed directly by HBO rather than a third-party provider. HBO Now will continue to operate after the new service launches, as will HBO Go — the app customers gain access to when they subscribe to HBO through their tv provider.
HBO Max is entering relatively late into a competitive space dominated by Netflix and Disney-owned Hulu. More and more companies are getting into the streaming service, with both Apple and Disney set to launch their own services in the coming weeks, at much lower prices. To help separate itself from the pack, HBO Max will have original and licensed content coming from Warner Bros., Cartoon Network, and DC, with a new Green Lantern series just announced.
Unfortunately, this also means more and more content is going to be fragmented from services you might already subscribe to. WarnerMedia announced the long-running series South Park would stream exclusively on HBO Max. New episodes will premiere on Comedy Central before being available 24 hours later. Currently, Hulu has the exclusive rights for the controversial series, but those rights expire in May. Adult Swim also announced Rick and Morty would exclusively stream in 2020, as will the hit CBS series Big Bang Theory.
What do you think about these new announcements? Are you planning on subscribing, or are you going to pass? Will you replace HBO Max for another subscription? Let us know in the comments below.
