When you’re one of many many who’ve balked on the prospect of paying $15 a month for HBO Max, how does a less expensive, ad-supported model of the streaming service sound? There’s a catch, nonetheless.
AT&T, the conglomerate that owns HBO Max dad or mum WarnerMedia, has made no secret of its plans to unveil an ad-supported (or AVOD) version of its fledgling streaming service. Earlier than HBO Max even launched, AT&T promised {that a} inexpensive tier of the service—with adverts—would observe the usual $15-a-month service.
On Friday, simply forward of its annual Investor Day occasion, AT&T spilled extra of the beans, pegging June because the U.S. launch date for the ad-supported HBO Max.
AT&T has but to announce how a lot the ad-driven HBO Max will price, however it did announce (through The Streamable) that some key HBO Max content material—day-and-date movie releases from Warner Bros.—received’t be included.
Whereas there’s no official pricing for the AVOD taste of HBO Max but, we are able to take a guess by such rivals as Hulu, Peacock, and Paramount+, which all supply each ad-supported and commercial-free choices.
Each Hulu and Paramount+, for instance, supply ad-supported tiers for $6 a month, or $60 a yr. Peacock is a tad cheaper, serving up its AVOD Peacock “Premium” plan for $5 a month, or $50 a yr.
WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar, who simply so occurred to be Hulu’s first chief exec, has promised that promoting on HBO Max will be “elegantly” rolled out, and that “individuals are going to be so enthusiastic about how considerate we’ve been about promoting.” (Personally, I discover it inconceivable that anybody might get “excited” about adverts on HBO Max regardless of how elegantly they’ve been executed, however I assume we’ll discover out quickly sufficient.)
AT&T sees an ad-supported model of HBO Max as simply the ticket for juicing its subscriber base. About 17.5 million users had “activated” HBO Max as of late January, giving WarnerMedia a complete of 41.5 million stateside HBO and HBO Max subscribers.
That’s not dangerous, however the determine pales subsequent to Netflix’s 200 million subscribers and the amazing 100 million that Disney+ managed to scare up in just a little over a yr.
HBO Max can also be nonetheless in search of its first breakout hit. Whereas The Flight Attendant and Lovecraft County have each seen some constructive buzz, neither have turn into the cultural touchstones that WandaVision and The Mandalorian have for Disney+, or The Crown and Stranger Issues over at Netflix.
In fact, one of many largest attracts of the ad-free HBO Max is that Warner Bros.’s whole slate of 2021 films will stream the identical day they arrive in theaters. These films embrace Judas and the Black Messiah (an awards contender that’s out now), Tom & Jerry, Godzilla vs. Kong, Mortal Kombat, These Who Want Me Lifeless, The Conjuring: The Satan Made Me Do It, In The Heights, House Jam: A New Legacy, The Suicide Squad, Memory, Malignant, Dune, The Many Saints of Newark, King Richard, Cry Macho and Matrix 4.
However as we discovered on Friday, these “day-and-date” films received’t be a part of the ad-supported HBO Max. Meaning those that go for the cheaper HBO Max tier should pony as much as watch Neo’s newest adventures on the identical day he warps into theaters.
Up to date shortly after publication so as to add that the ad-supported model of HBO Max received’t embrace day-and-day theatrical releases.
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