HBO Max Launching May 2020 for $14.99 a Month
With Apple TV+ set to launch on November 1 and Disney+ set to arrive on November 12, HBO just announced details of its own video streaming service. The company announced HBO Max a little while ago, but it’s giving us our first look at the service, and revealing some important details today.
HBO Max is owned by WarnerMedia Group, so it will include content from Warner Bros., New Line, DC, CNN, TNT, TBS, truTV, Turner Classic Movies, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Crunchyroll, Rooster Teeth, Looney Tunes and more. HBO is promising to offer 10,000 hours of content at launch.
The service will be launching in May 2020, and it will cost users $14.99 a month in the United States. That’s a little more expensive than Netflix, but it’s way more expensive than Apple TV+’s $4.99/month pricing and Disney+’s $6.99/month pricing. HBO hopes to reach 50 million subscribers in the United States by 2025, and around 75-90 million across the US, Latin America, and Europe.
The company will offer deals and bundles for existing HBO and AT&T customers. Those with HBO Now will automatically get access to HBO Max, and AT&T will also offer HBO Max for free to HBO subscribers at no additional charge. AT&T customers with premium video or mobile and broadband services will also be offered bundles with HBO Max at no additional charge, but HBO is yet to reveal all the details of all these offers.
HBO Max will include features like Recommended by Humans where popular celebrities and influencers will provide their own recommendations to users. It will also include a new co-viewing experience by allowing users to share their likes and watching habits while still having their own personal homepages.
As for content, HBO announced a long list of HBO Max Originals that are being produced, and it also announced a new Game of Thrones prequel that tells the story of House Targaryen.