This June, HBO Max will get a less expensive, ad-supported subscription plan, father or mother firm AT&T told buyers right this moment. Nevertheless, a selected value and launch date haven’t been introduced. Proper now, an ad-free subscription to HBO Max prices $14.99 month-to-month in the US.
There’s one main catch, although: the ad-supported model of the service won’t stream the much-hyped Warner Bros theatrical releases. These movies embody Wonder Woman 1984, which confirmed concurrently on HBO Max and in theaters in December of 2020, and Dune, which is anticipated to premiere this yr.
HBO will be a part of Paramount+, Hulu, and another streaming providers in providing (not less than) two tiers—one comparatively low-cost one which includes pre-roll or mid-roll promoting, and one with a better month-to-month charge that includes no advertisements. Nonetheless, a few of HBO Max’s opponents, like Disney+ or Netflix, don’t do bought promoting in any respect.
That is notable partially as a result of as a premium paid channel, HBO has lengthy been ad-free—one thing that was uncommon within the TV business earlier than streaming providers like Netflix started to dominate. That stated, HBO Max incorporates extra than simply HBO’s authentic programming. It additionally consists of movies and sequence from numerous different manufacturers and studios owned by WarnerMedia.
And in deference to HBO’s historical past as an ad-free channel, representatives of the service say that content material from HBO—that’s, stuff made for the premium community—will stay ad-free, whilst content material for and from different manufacturers could function commercials.
Together with this announcement, HBO Max reps stated the corporate expects to achieve between 67 and 70 million subscribers by the tip of 2021 and anyplace from 120 to 125 million by the tip of 2025.
The service can be anticipated to launch in 60 new markets outdoors the US this yr. These embody 39 territories in Latin America and the Caribbean come June, plus 21 territories in Europe within the second half of the yr.
