The initials of HBO disappear from streaming platforms. Max, the new platform, will be aimed at another type of more general public. When will you arrive in Spain? What will it mean for current HBO Max subscribers?
The merger of Warner Bros and Discovery Max will result in the rebranding of the HBO Max streaming platform. This week in the United States the new streaming platform will arrive: Max, which will bring together the content of the entire group. The change of course promises more supply, but How will it affect current HBO Max users in Spain?
After three years of major audiovisual productions such as succession, The Last of Us or House of the Dragon, HBO Max is coming to an end. The streaming platform will change its name again to encompass all Warner and Discovery content, in addition to offering sports.
HBO Max failed to meet its goal. Its 100 million paying subscribers put it at the tail of the big platforms, behind Netflix, Prime Video or Disney +. The initials HBO will disappear to make way for a more general audience. Discovery considers the acronym to be “a barrier of exclusive, select public and of high cultural level”.
This could well be one of the clues that determine what we will find from now on in Max. Definitely, there will be content more oriented to a general audiencealthough this does not mean that they abandon the typical blockbusters of the chain.
HBO will not disappear, it will hide in a section inside Max itself. One that cannot be contracted independently, unlike Discovery+, which can be contracted independently.
But what will Max’s price range be? Max will be in the most expensive spectrum on the market with 3 different rates:
- Max Ad Light ($9.99 per month or $99.99 per year), the cheapest ad-supported plan with access to the entire catalog.
- Max Ad Free ($15.99 per month), same as the previous plan but without ads.
- Max Unlimited Ad Free ($19.99 per month), with access to the entire catalog, without commercials, 4K and four simultaneous devices.
In Spain Max will arrive in a year
Currently, the HBO Max platform will carry out its rebranding only in the United States. The transition will happen automatically via an app update. For international territories, including Spain, you will have to wait a year.
As to the special half-price rate that could be contracted during the launch of HBO Max in SpainIt is not known if it will continue. There are unknowns about how the new application will affect customers, especially those who have taken advantage of the discounted rate in perpetuity.
The prices of Max in the United States are considerably higher than those in Spain. The company’s priority is to increase ARPU (average revenue per customer) and this is likely to imply a price increase to obtain a direct benefit per subscriber, although probably with initial launch offers, as happened when HBO and HBO Max later arrived in our country.
As to Max’s ad-supported plans will most likely come to us as well. The demand for the cheapest ad-supported plans has been very high, especially for those who want to reduce their budget for entertainment services. Therefore, it is very likely that this option will be available in Spain with the launch of Max.
