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HBO Max is the premium community’s streaming service changing HBO Now and HBO Go, that includes all the channel’s programming plus an amped-up library of additional reveals, films and originals, like the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air reunion dropping early Wednesday at 5 p.m. PT. But HBO Max had a bumpy launch earlier this yr, failing to get its app on the hottest streaming units and complicated some would-be viewers. It’s attracting solely a fraction of the hundreds of thousands of current HBO subscribers who can improve to Max without cost.
Finally, months after launch, the service reached a deal for the HBO Max app to stream on Amazon units like Fire TV, “Firestick” and Fire tablets, beginning Tuesday. But Max continues to be unavailable on Roku
Similar to rival Netflix, HBO Max is amongst the costliest of the bunch. New subscribers can join and pay $15 a month after a weeklong free trial. That matches the value HBO already expenses for its common channel on most pay-TV suppliers and for its preexisting standalone streaming service, HBO Now. Some (however not all) present HBO clients can get HBO Max at no added value. It additionally competes with new rivals like Disney Plus, Peacock and Apple TV Plus, however all three are a lot much less expensive.
Because HBO Max did not attain a distribution take care of both Roku and Amazon, its app wasn’t accessible to stream on these units for months — they usually’re the hottest streaming units in the nation. Roku and Amazon Fire TV collectively represented 70% of the streaming units in the US final yr.
The blackout has lastly lifted from Amazon Fire TV units. HBO Max mentioned Monday that it reached a take care of Amazon to add help for the HBO Max app on Amazon’s Fire TV units, including its common dongle usually referred to as Firestick, in addition to Fire tablets.
But HBO Max stays lacking from Roku. HBO has a special streaming app on Roku, merely known as HBO, which is proscribed to programming on the common community. But the expanded catalog of Max is not accessible on Roku with a easy one-click HBO Max app.
Some Roku customers can work out workarounds to entry HBO Max, like “casting” to their Rokus from their telephones. Last week, individuals with 4K Roku units acquired a brand new workaround to stream HBO Max itself, as most Roku 4K streamers and TVs up to date to help Apple’s AirPlay 2. That means individuals with iPhones and iPads can beam the HBO Max programming on their handheld units to their TV screens to watch it there.
Still, to entice you to give it a strive on different platforms, HBO Max has padded itself with extra content material than you may discover on the common HBO channel. For the identical value, HBO Max doubles the quantity of programming. AT&T, which owns HBO as half of its WarnerMedia TV and movie division, has been pouring billions of {dollars} into its budgets for unique programming and into costly offers to stream blockbuster films from DC, Studio Ghibli and the Criterion Collection, in addition to common reveals like Friends, South Park, The Big Bang Theory, Rick and Morty, Doctor Who and new episodes of Adventure Time. (There’s a deep dive into the reveals and flicks on Max close to the finish of this text.)
As the coronavirus pandemic has shuttered theaters and compelled hundreds of thousands to entertain themselves at dwelling, HBO Max’s father or mother firm, which incorporates the film studio Warner Bros., is beginning to flip to HBO Max to release new films initially meant for the large display.
HBO Max additionally has podcasts in its library linked to its programming, alongside the strains of final yr’s podcast companion to the miniseries Chernobyl. Raised by Wolves, an unique sci-fi drama directed by Ridley Scott, has a podcast accessible now on Max, for instance.
HBO Max’s so-called Max Originals additionally provide new, unique reveals and flicks. One of the newest: The Witches, a reboot of the basic Roald Dahl e book and 1990 movie. November will deliver The Flight Attendant, a comedic thriller starring Kaley Cuoco, and a reunion particular of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Also in the pipeline is the fabled “Snyder cut” of the 2017 film Justice League, in addition to Peacemaker — the DC spinoff collection is designed to be linked to subsequent yr’s theatrical film The Suicide Squad and can star John Cena reprising his function and James Gunn writing and directing earlier than he begins work on the subsequent Guardians of the Galaxy film. Other originals that’ve already been launched embrace Raised by Wolves, which seems to be the hottest Max unique to date; an Adventure Time animated hour-long particular, the first of 4; and indie movie Class Action Park, a documentary about the world’s most harmful amusement park.
One extremely anticipated unique stays lacking. A Friends reunion particular was anticipated to perform as the service’s marquee unique on day one. But like most issues in the world, HBO Max’s unique productions have been disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic. Confined to their houses, individuals throughout the nation are streaming way more, however the novel coronavirus and its respiratory illness, COVID-19, have additionally shut down tv productions globally. (The firm had mentioned it was aiming to movie the Friends reunion by the finish of the summer time however it was postponed once more in August.)
HBO Max’s $15-a-month value matches the value of HBO Now and of HBO’s common channel if you get it by most pay-TV suppliers. By comparability, Disney Plus is $7 a month and Netflix’s hottest tier is $14 a month.
For new HBO clients, pricing is easy. You simply join and pay the $15 month-to-month value after a seven-day free trial. Early subsequent yr, HBO Max plans to add a brand new tier that is cheaper every month however contains commercials to help the low cost.
But should you already pay for HBO, the query of whether or not you get a free improve to HBO Max is extra sophisticated. Some individuals who have already got an everyday HBO subscription or HBO Now will get Max for no additional value, however not everybody. For you to get the computerized improve to Max, HBO wants to strike a take care of the firm that is already billing you for HBO, whether or not it is a cable TV firm like Charter or a digital supplier like Apple or Amazon. HBO Max has been ramping up these offers, and there is a rising checklist of suppliers which can be letting their HBO clients improve to Max. (See the full checklist beneath.) But HBO Max would not have offers with each supplier.
This confusion could also be a think about HBO Max’s issue getting present HBO pay-TV subscribers to join Max, even when they already qualify for an improve at no added value. A fraction of the greater than 30 million present HBO clients who qualify for a free improve have truly gone by and signed up. All they’d have to do is obtain the app, log in and watch — however hundreds of thousands aren’t to date.
Overall, about 8.6 million account holders signed up for HBO Max in its first 5 months, by the finish of September. By comparability, Disney Plus reported greater than 10 million signups in little greater than 24 hours after it launched in November.
One factor that may get extra individuals flocking to HBO Max throughout the coronavirus pandemic can be premiering big-budget films like Tenet or Wonder Woman 1984 there. Other Hollywood giants, including Disney and Comcast’s Universal Pictures, have been switching to on-line debuts for some of their movies that had been initially destined for the large display, like Disney Plus’ release of Hamilton in July, Mulan in September and Pixar’s Soul in December.
But HBO Max did not premiere Warner Bros.’ Tenet, which had a posh theatrical release. AT&T has beforehand indicated that different films, like Wonder Woman 1984, in all probability will not find yourself on the streaming service till lengthy after their eventual theatrical debuts. Though the firm might transfer some movies off its theatrical slate and onto HBO Max as a substitute, AT&T’s CEO mentioned this may be content material “on the margins.” The determination to premiere The Witches on HBO Max earlier than theaters, nevertheless, might trace that WarnerMedia could also be enjoyable its stance.
Another lacking factor: HBO Max would not provide 4K decision or excessive dynamic vary picture high quality at launch. CNET’s overview of HBO Max displays that till the service resolves these points, HBO feels prefer it’s nonetheless a piece in progress.
So, it is sophisticated. Below are the finer particulars about HBO Max’s value, reductions, app and its reveals and flicks.
What units can stream HBO Max?
HBO Max is out there on a range of units, however it’s lacking an app for Roku.
- Most Apple units that may stream video help HBO Max — iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD. However, clients with second- and third-generation Apple TV fashions will want to stream HBO Max content material from their iPhone or iPad to their TV with AirPlay.
- Google’s Android working system for telephones and tablets have an app for Android TV units, Chromebooks, Google Chromecast and Chromecast built-in units will help HBO Max too.
- Sony’s PlayStation four techniques can obtain the HBO Max app through the PlayStation Store.
- Microsoft’s Xbox One gaming consoles have the HBO Max app through the Microsoft Store.
- Select Samsung internet-connected good TVs — fashions from 2016 by 2020 — can obtain and buy HBO Max immediately.
- Amazon Fire TV units and Fire tablets could have help for HBO Max’s app beginning Tuesday.
But Roku units nonetheless do not help HBO Max. Roku is one of the hottest strains of streaming units in the US, with greater than 46 million energetic account.
People with 4K Roku units acquired a brand new workaround to stream HBO Max itself in November. Most Roku 4K streamers and TVs up to date with help for Apple’s AirPlay 2, which implies iPhones and iPads with the HBO Max app can “cast” to Roku-connected TV screens. That can unlock the expanded HBO Max catalog for some Roku clients, even with out a deal.
HBO Max executives have mentioned they’ve an app prepared for Roku, however the firm should attain a take care of the distributor first. Generally, Roku has mentioned it’s centered on mutually constructive distribution agreements with all new companies, with out a lot elaboration. But greater than 5 months have handed since HBO Max launched with out a deal?
What do I do if I beforehand used HBO Go or Now on Roku or Fire TV?
The sunsetting of HBO Go and rebranding of HBO Now arrange difficulties for some Roku and Amazon Fire TV customers. Anybody who beforehand streamed HBO Go on a Roku or Fire TV was instantly caught with a inoperable app and wasn’t given a lot steerage on how to cope.
The excellent news is these customers can unlock the newly renamed HBO app, however they want to soar by some hoops first. AT&T pseudo-collapsed HBO Go and HBO Now collectively into the rebranded HBO app. While this app will not have any of the additional originals, reveals or films that you just get with HBO Max, you may nonetheless have the ability to proceed streaming common HBO programming with it on Roku and Fire TV.
But for legacy HBO Go clients, you want to improve your HBO account for HBO Max. Once you register an e mail tackle and password with HBO Max, you should utilize your HBO Max credentials to sign up to the newly rebranded HBO app on each Roku and Amazon Fire TV.
In addition, Roku famous that individuals who pay for HBO by Comcast, Charter or AT&T TV can stream HBO on the Comcast Xfinity Stream, Spectrum TV and AT&T TV apps too. Amazon did not reply to messages searching for remark.
What does HBO Max value?
HBO Max is $15 a month at launch with a seven-day free trial.
AT&T CEO John Stankey has mentioned HBO Max will launch a less expensive, ad-supported tier early subsequent yr. He did not specify the value, the exact launch date or any catalog limitations this tier may need.
Before launch, individuals who preordered the service at HBOMax.com unlocked a reduction deal that lowered the value to $13 a month for the first yr. Preordered accounts did not qualify for the seven-day free trial.
Legacy HBO Now subscribers can hold streaming the programming from common HBO with out registering for HBO Max, however they’re going to primarily be paying the identical quantity for much less programming.
Compared with rival streaming companies launching earlier than HBO Max, that pricing might really feel steep. Disney Plus is $7 a month, and Apple TV Plus is $5. Both are providing offers that may minimize the value additional or providing prolonged free durations to some clients. Apple, for instance, is giving freely a yr’s subscription to anybody who’s bought an Apple machine. And Disney arrange a take care of Verizon so many of the provider’s cellular subscribers get a yr free.
How do I get HBO Max if I already pay for HBO? What will it value me?
Things get extra sophisticated if you have already got HBO and wish to know what the launch of HBO Max means for you. Some individuals who have already got an current subscription to HBO are ready to unlock HBO Max at no additional value, however not everybody.
Legacy HBO Now subscribers by Apple or Google barely wanted to do something to unlock HBO Max. The HBO Now app was mechanically changed by the HBO Max app through a software program replace on these cellular units that help HBO Max. In these circumstances, if you open the new HBO Max app, you simply want to agree to the HBO Max Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and select to “Access All of HBO Max,” and also you’re set, in accordance to an HBO Now help web page.
Some HBO Max distributors unlock an HBO Max improve at no additional value for any present HBO and legacy HBO Now clients, thanks to offers HBO Max has struck with them. You qualify for the HBO Max improve at no additional value should you already pay for HBO by:
- AT&T (HBO’s father or mother firm) and DirecTV, U-verse, AT&T TV Now, AT&T TV and AT&T wi-fi customers who can add HBO with sure limitless plans.
- Charter and its Spectrum companies.
- YouTube TV or Google.
- Apple.
- Hulu.
- Altice USA and its Optimum and Suddenlink companies.
- Verizon and its Fios companies.
- Cox Communications.
- The NCTC group of impartial cable and broadband firms — that features WOW!, Atlantic Broadband, RCN, Grande Communications & Wave, MCTV and others. (Check in case your pay-TV supplier is an NCTC member.)
- Comcast X1 and Flex clients.
However, it is unclear if HBO Max will strike extra offers with different pay-TV suppliers, whether or not that is conventional suppliers like Dish or internet-based ones like Amazon Prime Video Channels and The Roku Channel.
AT&T can also be providing an advanced matrix of promos for HBO Max. Some clients get Max at no additional value, whereas others qualify for a one-month, three-month or one-year free trial. Your greatest shot at determining whether or not you qualify is to examine your account or the myAT&T app, however CNET additionally lists AT&T’s qualification phrases for its HBO Max promos.
When will HBO Max launch elsewhere?
HBO Max launched May 27 in the US.
After that, HBO Max’s first worldwide expansions will prioritize Latin America and Europe. Latin America will get HBO Max in 2021, the firm has mentioned.
HBO Max’s US timing will put it close to the finish of a parade of streaming service launches. Disney Plus and Apple TV Plus launched in November. April introduced Quibi, a mobile-only streaming service that options brief, episodic originals. Also in April, NBCUniversal’s Peacock launched a “sneak peek” at its service on Comcast earlier than launching nationally July 15.
What product options does HBO Max have?
In a long-anticipated function for anybody streaming HBO Go, HBO Max has downloads for its cellular apps. Unfortunately, like most issues with HBO Max, the firm would not have a transparent reply for whether or not there are limitations on the quantity of programming you possibly can obtain.
“We don’t have a crisp answer for you on how many downloads will be allowed but it’s going to be a very comfortable number for most people,” Andy Forssell, the product chief of HBO Max, mentioned. “The limit will probably be how much space you have in your device versus our limit, and that will liberalize over time.”
HBO Max permits you to stream to three totally different units concurrently. By comparability, Disney Plus permits 4 simultaneous streams, and Netflix permits between one and 4 relying on how a lot you pay every month.
You can even create up to 5 profiles to hold suggestions separate for various members of the family, and it additionally has child accounts which can be unlocked by getting into a PIN. These parental controls permit mothers and dads to set the maturity ranges of the programming every youngsters’ profile can entry, primarily based on rankings like PG and TV-14.
For HBO Now members, HBO Max mechanically replaces the HBO Now cellular app by a software program replace.
But there is a draw back to the transition from HBO Now and HBO Go to HBO Max: HBO Max will not protect any of your watch historical past should you change from an current HBO streaming account. So your customized suggestions begin with a clear slate, and HBO Max will not know, for instance, should you’ve already watched each episode of Game of Thrones thrice or should you’re midway by the film Joker and wish to decide again up the place you left off.
Another lacking factor: HBO Max would not provide 4K decision nor excessive dynamic vary picture high quality at launch.
Where can I join HBO Max?
The easiest method to get HBO Max is to join it immediately at hbomax.com.
Through Apple, HBO Max will probably be an iOS app for iPhone and iPad, which is able to permit you to join and pay by an in-app buy. Apple may even combine HBO Max into its personal TV app, which permits you to congregate sure streaming channels to watch them in a single place.
Through Google, HBO Max could have an app for Android telephones and tablets in the Google Play retailer, and you will be ready to join inside the app with an in-app buy. You’ll additionally have the ability to stream HBO Max on Android TV, Chromebook and Google Chromecast. If you already subscribe to HBO Now by Google Play, you may mechanically have the ability to log in to HBO Max at launch at no further cost, and you will proceed to be billed by Google. And YouTube TV, the streaming pay-TV service operated by Google’s YouTube, may even carry HBO Max.
People with Samsung Smart TVs that help the HBO Max app may even have the ability to join immediately there.
Shows and movies: What can I watch?
Generally, HBO Max includes all the shows and movies on HBO, plus a selection of high-profile licensed content, like Friends, The Big Bang Theory, Rick & Morty and South Park. It’ll layer exclusive original programming on top of that. HBO Max said it will have 30 originals in year one and 60 in year two.
Now that the service is live, an easy way to see what’s available without signing up is a third-party catalog search service like Reelgood. The following section summarizes what HBO Max has and what’s coming.
The simplest part of the catalog to understand is HBO itself. HBO Max includes everything on regular HBO, so that means all the theatrical movies that come and go from the channel; new episodes from all HBO series, like Perry Mason and Last Week Tonight With John Oliver; and the past seasons of those programs as well as the full HBO back catalog, like Game of Thrones, Silicon Valley, Veep and The Wire; plus all of the HBO original films, documentaries and specials.
Movies are a crucial part of the catalog. And any movie that’s available to watch on the traditional HBO network will also be available to stream on HBO Max. Highlights of the HBO Max film catalog will include (but may come and go as licensing changes):
- The so-called Snyder cut of Justice League, slated to arrive on HBO Max in 2021.
- DC films like Joker, Wonder Woman, Suicide Squad, Shazam, Aquaman and every Batman and Superman movie of the last 40 years.
- Studio Ghibli anime films that have never been released for streaming in the US before.
- Anime selections like Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and other top titles from anime-focused streaming service Crunchyroll, which is also owned by AT&T.
- Classic movies like The Wizard of Oz, Casablanca, Citizen Kane, Gone With the Wind, Singin’ in the Rain, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Blade Runner: The Final Cut and many others.
- Newer hits like The Invisible Man, Jojo Rabbit and Ford v Ferrari.
On top of that, AT&T has been licensing outside hit shows to beef up HBO Max’s catalog. The most eye-popping deals have been:
- A reported $425 million deal for all episodes of ’90s hit Friends, which exited Netflix to start streaming on HBO Max at launch.
- A reported $500 million deal to stream The Big Bang Theory.
It’s also secured deals for past seasons of Rick and Morty; 11 of the most recent seasons of Doctor Who, plus another three to come; CW dramas like Pretty Little Liars, Batwoman, and Riverdale spinoff Katy Keene as well as more upcoming CW series; The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air; The West Wing; and British series like Luther and Ricky Gervais’ original The Office, among many others.
Animated satire South Park will not only contribute its full back catalog to HBO Max but also stream new episodes. The latest episodes of South Park will stream on HBO Max 24 hours after they air on Comedy Central for the next three seasons.
And HBO Max will have exclusive new shows and movies called Max Originals. For the most part, original series on HBO Max will drop new episodes on a weekly basis. Some of the originals have included:
- Love Life, a romantic comedy starring Anna Kendrick and produced by Kendrick and Paul Feig, who is known for blockbuster comedies like Bridesmaids.
- Doom Patrol, the second season of the DC Universe series.
- Adventure Time: Distant Lands-BMO, which is the first of four specials resurrecting Cartoon Network’s franchise Adventure Time.
- Expecting Amy, a three-part docuseries about comedian Amy Schumer’s life on tour during her pregnancy.
- American Pickle, the Seth Rogen comedy that is HBO Max’s first original film, about a 1920s immigrant who gets preserved in pickle brine for 100 years and meets his great-grandson (both characters portrayed by Rogen) in modern-day Brooklyn.
- Class Action Park, the indie doc about the world’s most dangerous theme park.
- Raised by Wolves, the sci-fi epic from director and executive producer Ridley Scott; the 10-episode series focuses on two androids raising human children on a mysterious planet.
Then over the course of the fall and beyond, HBO Max will add other originals, including:
- The Witches, the new movie based on the classic book starring Octavia Spencer and Anne Hathaway.
- The Flight Attendant, starring and executive produced by Kaley Cuoco based on the novel by Chris Bohjalian.
- The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Reunion Special, getting the series’ remaining cast members together for a family reunion on set in the Banks’ home.
- Superintelligence, a movie starring Melissa McCarthy about an all-power artificial intelligence that chooses to study the most average person on Earth.
- The Friends unscripted cast reunion special.
- A reboot of Pretty Little Liars.
Of HBO Max’s originals, about half are targeted at young adults aged 16 to 34, and the rest will be divided between more adult fare and kids and family content outside the HBO brand.
Some of the other highlights of the originals in the pipeline for HBO Max include:
- New DC titles. A Green Lantern series that producer Greg Berlanti (a young-adult TV guru behind Riverdale and Arrow) says will travel to space and “promises to be our biggest DC show ever made.” Strange Adventures, a one-hour drama anthology series also produced by Berlanti that explores the intersecting lives of mortals and superhumans. DC Super Hero High will be a half-hour comedy from Elizabeth Banks, the producer and actress known for the Hunger Games films and 30 Rock, that’ll focus on a group of adolescent students at a boarding school for “gifted” kids.
- Projects by J.J. Abrams. Abrams, known for a parade of television and box office hits, signed a megadeal with AT&T and WarnerMedia to make projects for the company. On HBO Max, he’ll help produce a show set in the Justice League Dark universe; Overlook, a thriller based on Stephen King’s The Shining and set in the Overlook Hotel; and a 1970s crime show called Duster.
- A half-hour comedy from actress-producer Issa Rae. Rae’s Rap Sh*t explores the music business in Miami through the eyes of three women: an upstart hip-hop duo and their hustling manager.
- A half-hour comedy from actress/producer Mindy Kaling. College Girls (a working title) tracks three 18-year-old freshman roommates at Evermore College in Vermont.
- The Boondocks animated series is getting “two reimagined seasons” along with a 50-minute special originally planned for fall 2020.
- A new Jellystone animated series with the classic Hanna-Barbera characters from Warner Bros. Animation.
- Comedy specials from Conan O’Brien and the team behind his TBS show. They’ll be developing five stand-up specials for HBO Max: O’Brien will host two specials that feature short sets from multiple up-and-coming comics and curate hourlong sets from three comedians. That slate will join another one-hour special from comedian James Veitch.
The service will have a smaller slate of original films, between five and 10 per year, according to the original plan. Early highlights on the original movie slate include:
- A two-picture deal with Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine.
- A documentary about Anthony Bourdain.
- A four-picture deal with Berlanti, including Unpregnant, a September release about two teenage girls who go on a road trip to New Mexico after one finds out she’s pregnant, based on the young adult novel by Jenni Hendriks and Ted Caplan.
- Super Intelligence, a comedy starring Melissa McCarthy about a woman whose romantic life is selected for observation by artificial intelligence.
- Bobbie Sue, a comedy feature starring Jane the Virgin’s Gina Rodriguez as an up-and-coming young lawyer who joins a stuffy Boston law firm.
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