Entertainment
You’ll soon be able to get HBO Max cheaper if you don’t mind watching some ads
Hey, five bucks is five bucks.
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HBO Max will soon have a cheaper subscription option, offset by limited advertising on HBO-exclusive content only. The new tier is slated to launch in June, according to a new report from CNBC, and will cost $9.99, down from the normal $14.99 price per month.
That’s more expensive than the ad-supported tiers from the competition, but then again HBO’s streaming services have always come with a premium. Now that they added all the DC Universe content, it might even be worth the higher prices.
Advertising won’t be as intrusive as some services, as HBO reportedly plan to include ads only in those HBO Max exclusives, and not in normal HBO shows. We almost got the chance to have HBO Max only content for $4.99 a month, but WarnerMedia decided to combine HBO Max and HBO content instead.
Sounds like a win for consumers, right? Access to the same content, for less, and the choice whether you want to watch limited advertising or if you’d rather pay more and not see a single ad. The one potential loser? The pay-TV distributors like Roku and Amazon, who get a cut of every subscription signed up through their own storefronts.
With the ad-supported tier being lower in price, that cuts into their potential profits. WarnerMedia is offsetting that by allowing them access to advertising inventory, which could make the revenue per user even higher than the $14.99 of the normal HBO Max tier.
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