Whether you believe the Great Streaming Wars are over or not, I think most would agree that video streaming platforms are entering a new phase. And this latest phase has been including two words despised by consumers: price hike. After Netflix, Apple TV, and Disney+’s increases, it’s HBO Max’s turn now.
Warner Bros. Discovery announced on January 12th that, effective immediately, the price of the ad-free tier of HBO Max would be raised by $1 to $15.99 a month. Existing subscribers get a bit of a reprieve until February 11th. The ad-included option remains at $9.99, and both annual subscription plans’ prices are also staying the same ($99.99 a year or $149.99 for ad-free).
“This price increase of $1 will allow us to continue to invest in providing even more culture-defining programming and improving our customer experience for all users.”
But as many outlets have pointed out, this is the latest in a string of moves by Warner Bros. Discovery.
To recap, the company is grappling with debt since its merger in April 2022, and the CEO is focusing on gaining some fast cash. Many projects have been canceled, including some nearly finished ones like Batgirl. Titles have been pulled from HBO Max, both licensed content like Sesame Street and own productions like Westworld. Some of HBO Max’s originals will likely make their way elsewhere (with one quickly being rescued by Starz), but others may soon be lost media. Entire teams have been laid off. Departments, most notably DC’s film and TV division, have or are reshuffling. All of this to help pay off the cost of Discovery acquiring WarnerMedia.
In other words, Warner Bros. Discovery has been abuzz lately, but often not in a good way.
Max on the Horizon
But as IndieWire succinctly put it with the title of their HBO Max price increase article, “HBO Max Sure Picked a Weird Time to Increase Its Price”.
That’s because HBO Max, as it is now, is not likely to exist in a few months. Warner Bros. Discovery is going to merge HBO Max with Discovery+, their other main streaming service. Discovery+’s ad-included versions costs $4.99 a month, and consumers pay another $2 to remove them.
The new blended service between the service is expected this spring. “Max” is the likely name for it, but few other details are known.
A price hike was expected since at least November, and reports indicated that the number of ads could double too to be more in line with Discovery+.
But a price increase was thought to be more for the new HBO Max. And the CFO is already indicating the launch of Max gives them more chances to raise the cost.
Comparatively speaking, the $15.99 price makes HBO Max the most expensive streaming platform.
True, a $1 more per month is less than what some other services have raised their rates by recently, and rates are only changing for monthly ad-free subscribers. But as many articles and commenters have pointed out, the removal of so much content since its launch — many of which in recent months — makes the cost increase seem higher than $1. Warner Bros. Discover won’t even renew deals between its divisions for major IPs like Looney Tunes, causing half the original shorts to be removed. This is despite being one of HBO Max’s quick access hubs.
But animation — and family content in general — have been major targets for Warner Bros. Discovery. According to CNBC (and others), “HBO specializes in adult-themed content that skews toward a male audience. Discovery specializes in adult-themed reality content that is watched by more women.” So while adults are covered, content for kids don’t seem to be a part of Max’s future goals.
And former HBO Max executives lamented to The Daily Beast that Warner Bros. Discovery is courting “Middle America” and has lost much of its diverse talent as it tries to be unobjectionable to all. There will be debates, of course, if this is in line with accusations that CNN, another Warner Bros. Discovery division, has been pivoting to be more “Republican-friendly”.
Future Max
Regardless whether there’s a political side to all the Warner Bros. Discovery changes, price hikes and removed content are ways to alienate all kinds of consumers. Max would almost certainly have to be at least $20 a month, and while that would be in line with, say, the Disney+ bundle, that also combines three different services and covers a wide variety of watchers — young to old, animation to live action fans, sports lovers to musical lovers — and it leans heavily into its main IPs of Mickey and Marvel. Warner Bros. Discovery, meanwhile, canned Henry Cavill’s return as Superman just a few weeks after the announcement.
If DC movies are undergoing that level of changes, it’s almost certain we’ll see even more as Max’s launch approaches as the CEO scrounges up whatever cash he can find to pay down the company’s debts. Studio Ghibli titles remain on HBO Max, but I wouldn’t be surprised if any deal between Warner Bros. Discovery and licensor GKIDS isn’t renewed. Licensed content and family-friendly fare certainly don’t seem to fit in with the entertainment giant’s trajectory right now.
Not Just About the Price Hike
For me, my promotional 50% off rate for HBO Max expires this month, and I don’t plan on renewing. I enjoy a lot of content on there, sure. But the video player isn’t that great, and I’ve also been annoyed at how so many of their properties haven’t made it onto HBO Max. And many of the canceled or removed titles were things I would have watched (or rewatched), including all the Crunchyroll titles as well as productions like the Looney Tunes musical movie.
Plus, in general, all the cancellations and shuffling and such…I was skeptical of Discovery’s purchase of Warner Bros. in the first place, and all of these certainly haven’t improved my opinion of the deal. The opposite, in fact. And I don’t want to pay even more than the new $16-a-month rate for Max due to the Discovery+ content, which I have no interest in.
Yes, I could downgrade to the $9.99 a month plan (or save at $99.99 a year) for no-ads, but I also have concerns about how the company is going to handle the shift to Max. Will HBO Max and Discovery+ continue to exist for a while? Will they migrate everyone to an equivalent plan, so if, say, someone with ad-free HBO Max annual get Max’s expanded content for no extra charge? Will Warner Bros. Discovery be pulling more stuff between now and then?
So I’ll be discovering more content on other services (like my free Paramount+ membership from Walmart or discounted Peacock Premium subscription) than on HBO Max/Max. It’s not just about the $1 more but a culmination of all their moves and issues. These may save the company from burning money, but the process seems to also be burning bridges with audiences and even staff.