25 May 2023, Bengaluru, India
Max, a large, consolidated streamer from Warner Bros. Discovery that will replace the three-year-old HBO Max service and incorporate programming from Discovery+, has been launched. How does this affect current HBO Max subscribers, then?
This Tuesday, May 23, is the day HBO Max will change to the new streaming service Max. Naturally, this begs the question of what will happen if you already have an HBO Max subscription. Do you need to sign up for Max again? Are you going to pay more? Below, we outline the salient features of this remarkable development.
Once that shift occurs, current HBO Max members’ subscription costs won’t change, and they’ll be able to continue using the features of their HBO Max plans for at least six months after Max begins.
The monthly prices for the With Ads and Ad-Free tiers will remain at $10 and $16, respectively. But take note that Warner Bros. Discovery has moved 4K streaming into a brand-new Ultimate Ad-Free tier at $20/month, meaning that when the six-month trial period is over, you’ll need to pay for the more expensive tier if you want to stream in 4K on Max. Details are available in the list of subscription tiers below.
Max combines “Discovery favorites” like HBO Max with channels like HGTV, the Food Network, TLC, ID, Magnolia Network, Discovery, and more. See our overview of all there is to know about the new HBO Max for additional details.
One significant change is that starting with the Max launch, only Max Ultimate Ad Free ($19.99/month) customers will have access to all 4K Ultra HD content. Right now, HBO Max’s ad-free package offers a variety of 4K shows.
Other than that, HBO Max subscribers will mostly notice a tonne of fresh material and improved features in Max, which now includes content from Discovery brands including HGTV, Discovery Channel, and Food Network. According to Warner Bros. Discovery, current HBO Max subscribers will be able to access Max for the same price as their HBO Max subscription ($15.99/month without advertising; $9.99/month with ads). However, whereas HBO Max has allowed for up to three concurrent streams, the normal Max ad-free tier will only allow for two. Up to four simultaneous streams are available with the Max Ultimate Ad Free subscription.
According to Warner Bros. Discovery, Max Ultimate will include a large selection of 4K UHD material, including series from “Game of Thrones,” “The Last of Us,” “Harry Potter,” “The Lord of the Rings,” “The Dark Knight Trilogy,” and other popular series. The company added that all Warner Bros. films released this year and in the future would also be offered in 4K UHD when they appear on Max after their theatrical release dates.
According to JB Perrette, president, and CEO of worldwide streaming and games, the business sought to keep the pricing points of Max comparable to HBO Max “because we think it’s unbelievable value for everything you get at that price.”
According to Warner Bros. Discovery, Max may be available to you at no additional cost if you subscribe to HBO as part of your cable or satellite TV plan. The firm lists which pay-TV providers will offer Max at this link, but the site is now silent about which tier cable and satellite subscribers will be able to access. At the moment, AT&T, Cox, Cricket, DirecTV, Dish, Hulu, Altice USA’s Optimum, Amazon’s Prime Video Channels, Charter’s Spectrum, Verizon, and Comcast’s Xfinity are the distribution partners lined up to offer Max.
No other streaming service in the world, according to him, has more affluent subscribers than HBO Max. Therefore, in our opinion, let’s refrain from attempting to steal money from others who may have less financial means. Instead, offer them a terrific discount to experience it. And for those who can afford it, we have a price for you that is $4 more than the $15.99 [per month] and want higher-quality [4K video], bells, and whistles.
When unveiling the HBO Max and Discovery+ services, Perrette remarked, “This new brand represents a fundamental change to our broader content offering and customer proposition from two narrower products, HBO Max and Discovery+. While each product had a use for individuals, Max would have a wide range of high-quality options for everyone.
For further information, current HBO Max subscribers can click on this page. Discovery+, which costs $4.99 per month with advertisements and $6.99 per month without them in the United States, will remain a stand-alone subscription, according to the firm.
With HBO Max, Discovery+, and other services included, Warner Bros. Discovery reported having 96.1 million streaming subscribers by the end of 2022. The number of subscribers to HBO and HBO Max is not separately disclosed by the firm.
[Source: variety.com]
