HBO Max is an upcoming American subscription video on demand streaming service from combining HBO with Warner Bros. movies and Turner TV shows, will launch on May 27th, the company announced today.
HBO Max will include 10,000 hours of premium content at launch. The library includes the entire HBO service, titles past and present from Warner Bros., top content from around the world, and a monthly offering of new Max Originals.
The streaming service pulls from WarnerMedia’s deep content library, including films and TV from Warner Bros.’ 100-year content collection, New Line, DC, CNN, TNT, TBS, truTV, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Crunchyroll, Rooster Teeth, Looney Tunes, a curated selection of classic films in partnership with TCM, and more. HBO Max will also offer an extensive selection of third-party acquired series and movies.
How much will HBO Max cost?
HBO Max will be $15 a month at launch. Within the first year, the service will expand to include another tier that carries advertising. The company hasn’t specified the price, launch date or catalog limitations on this tier, but it would presumably be cheaper, or free.
HBO’s current standalone streaming service, HBO Now, also costs $15 a month. Though HBO Now will continue to operate, HBO Max will essentially replace it. HBO Now subscribers are welcome to stick with that service, but they’ll essentially be paying the same amount for less content. HBO Max will have all the same shows and movies on HBO Now plus a big catalog of licensed programming and exclusive originals.
Some people who already have an existing subscription to HBO will be able to unlock HBO Max at no extra cost, but not everyone. Subscribers to HBO Now can upgrade to HBO Max free, and HBO subscribers via AT&T can get it free too (that is, HBO customers through DirecTV, U-verse, AT&T TV Now, AT&T TV and AT&T wireless users who can add HBO with certain unlimited plans). And through an April deal with Charter, all of Charter’s existing HBO subscribers, including subscribers in its Spectrum Silver and Gold video packages, will automatically be given access to HBO Max for no additional charge.
During a preview event for HBO Max last year, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson told investors, journalists, and analysts that HBO Max is “very different from anything else that you’ve seen in the market so far.” While production is shut down around the world, affecting every studio and network working on new series, that uniqueness will have to come in the form of older, original WarnerMedia titles sitting in the company’s impressive archive.
