Warner Bros. Discovery will soon be merged with an unnamed streaming platform of its own HBO Max with Discovery+ content. The biggest concern of the strategic shift was what the price would be to account for the new structure, which would add thousands of shows to the catalog. As it turns out, fans of the premium distributor can breathe a sigh of relief. Bloomberg the old pricing plan will largely remain in place.
As with HBO Max now, the new streamer comes with an ad-supported plan that costs $10 a month and an ad-free subscription that costs $15 to $16. However, the main difference is the addition of a premium plan for viewers who want to watch HBO’s signature shows in the highest possible quality. This new plan costs $20 per month for comparison and includes other new features. However, for anyone who doesn’t opt for that option, the combined platform will be a direct upgrade to what HBO Max left behind.
The David Zaslav mode has been looking at a new, combined streamer for some time, initially planning a complete combination of HBO Max and Discovery +. However, this was reported in February those plans were scrapped in favor of keeping the latter as a cheaper, stand-alone service to retain customers who are not interested in paying the additional costs. Warner Bros. Discovery still wanted to take advantage of the “additional content” of the two platforms, as HBO Max mainly churns out premium scripted cable content. White lotus, Dragon Houseand The end of us And Discovery+ hosts reality and unscripted series Dr. Pimple Popper and 90 days bride.
While no name has been officially chosen for the rebooted platform, Max is reportedly still under serious consideration. Regardless of the name, the HBO brand is almost entirely absent from the title. The Wrap recently Warner Bros. Insiders at Discovery confirmed the report that they are concerned that the HBO name has been turned over to potential new customers. That notion is especially confusing given that the streamer remains one of the five most-subscribed streaming services in the country with 76.1 million users, and that HBO in general is a cultural leader with its popular programming.
Warner Bros. Discovery will have more information on the future of HBO Max soon
Warner Bros. Discovery will reveal details about the HBO Max reboot on April 12, and the new platform is expected to launch in the coming weeks. In addition, the company is expected to upgrade its previously offered FAST service. Since the mass cancellations began under their umbrella, plans have been hatched to rival streamers like Freevee, Pluto TV and Tubi for hosting content outside of their paid platforms. Temporarily, it shows like Westworld and Never Outsourced to third party FASTs to hold them down while cutting costs.
Stay tuned here on Collider for more on the new streaming platform.