WarnerMedia has announced a raft of new details about HBO Max, its direct-to-consumer streaming service. Launching in May of 2020, WarnerMedia will be making the service available to customers in the US for $14.99 per month (€13.5). The company is targeting 50 million domestic subscribers and 75 – 90 million premium subscribers by year-end in 2025 across the US, Latin America and Europe.

At launch, AT&T will immediately offer HBO Max to its near 10 million HBO subscribers on AT&T distribution platforms, at no additional charge. HBO Now direct-billed users who subscribe directly through HBONow.com will also have access to Warner Media’s HBO Max product. AT&T customers on premium video, mobile and broadband services will be offered bundles with HBO Max included at no additional charge. WarnerMedia said it is in active discussions with its distributors and “looks forward to offering their customers seamless access to this great product”.

“With this entire company coming together, we will have one of the most robust collections of premium streaming content that will appeal to all demographics in the household, and be able to achieve incredible scale and reach right out of the gate,” said Robert Greenblatt chairman of WarnerMedia Entertainment and Direct-to-Consumer, speaking at an investors event. “We couldn’t achieve this without AT&T’s unprecedented and enthusiastic support. When you live in a world with dragons — it feels very good to have one of your own in the game.”

“We’ve positioned HBO Max in a way that makes sense for our Company, our distribution partners and our customers,” added Tony Goncalves, CEO of Otter Media. “We are creating a company-wide ‘membership-model’ that taps into AT&T’s 170 million direct-to-consumer relationships, 5,500 retail stores and 3.2 billion annual customer touchpoints to achieve scale and reach at launch.”

HBO Max will launch with 10,000 hours of curated premium content including the entire HBO service, bundled with new HBO Max Originals.  HBO Max will pull from WarnerMedia’s library of fan favorites in its 100-year content collection, including library 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 Max will also offer a robust selection of third party acquired series and movie titles that will rival any other streaming offering in the marketplace.

During the event, WarnerMedia also took the opportunity to announce a slew of new content acquisitions. The platform will also be home to all 23 season of South Park, the first three seasons of Rick and Morty, an exclusive Ridley Scott sci-fi project entitled Raised by Wolves, an animated Gremlins series, two new DC series in Strange Adventures and Green Lantern, and a new Game of Thrones prequel series. The content joins every season of popualr sitcoms Friends, The Big Bang Theory and The Office, kid’s favourite Sesame Street, four exclusive Adventure Time specials, a Dune TV series and the entire Studio Ghibli library.

Categories: Articles, Premium, VOD