HBO’s parent company WarnerMedia is launching its new streaming service HBO Max today, adding yet another option to the increasingly crowded (and fragmented) streaming landscape. At $14.99 a month, HBO Max is priced at the higher end of the competition and will only be available in the United States at launch. According to WarnerMedia, it will offer 10,000 hours of content from the company’s extensive library out of the gate.
Like Disney+, HBO Max is built on its parent company’s strong line-up of intellectual property, including TV shows and movies from brands and networks such as HBO, New Line Cinema, DC Entertainment, TBS, TNT, Cartoon Network and The CW, just to name a few. Outside of Warner’s owned content, the service will offer BBC productions, including Doctor Who, Luther and Top Gear and be the exclusive streaming home of Sesame Street, making the latter’s 50-year library available for streaming for the first time ever.
While all-time favorites like Friends, The Big Bang Theory and The Lord of the Rings trilogy certainly form a solid backbone for a new streaming service, the biggest draw to HBO Max is HBO itself. According to a survey conducted by Morning Consult and the Hollywood Reporter, 34 percent of respondents said they’re more likely to subscribe to HBO Max because it has HBO’s TV shows and movies vs. 21 percent who said they might subscribe for 10 seasons of Friends. The classic 90s sitcom had been a major talking point ahead of HBO Max’s launch, because it’s been one of the most-streamed shows on Netflix for years.
