HBO abandons Amazon Prime Video Channels

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HBO is slowly closing the doors to other streaming platforms to boost HBO Max membership. Earlier this month, Amazon let its customers know that their HBO subscription will no longer be valid if they signed up through Prime Channels starting today.

According to a new report from Engadget, the two companies have seemingly parted ways for now. This is due mostly to an effort by HBO to boost subscribers for its HBO Max subscription.

The two companies had previously butted heads over the launch of the HBO Max service. Amazon refused to support HBO Max on its platforms because it wasn’t available through Amazon’s own Prime Channels. Prime Channels offered users access to HBO, but the catalog for an HBO Max subscription is much larger.

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Originally, HBO had said it “looked forward to reaching [an] agreement” with Amazon in terms of the streaming service. Since then, HBO has changed its mind in favor of abandoning Amazon’s Prime Channels altogether.

Amazon Prime Channels accounts for some 5 million subscribers for HBO that the company will certainly be sad to see go. However, it hopes to entice more people to sign up for HBO Max as a standalone service as a result of the new change. Some have even speculated that HBO could offer discounts for former Amazon Prime Channels users, but that is yet to be confirmed.

Whether or not HBO sees the results it wants from this change is to be determined. The only thing that’s certain now is Amazon Prime Channels users no longer have access to an HBO subscription as of today.

For anyone who has already paid for this month’s subscription, your service will still be cut off today, but you’ll receive a prorated refund for any extra that you might have paid this month.

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