HBO Max Announces New (and Cheaper) Ad-Supported Subscriptions — Here's What This Could Mean for the Future of Streaming

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HBO Max Announces New (and Cheaper) Ad-Supported Subscriptions — Here's What This Could Mean for the Future of Streaming

The pricing and release date for the new WarnerMedia offering was officially announced Wednesday.

 

 

WarnerMedia officially announced Wednesday that HBO Max will be joining the ranks of streaming services to offer an ad-supported subscription tier to consumers, for the price of $9.99 a month. The new option will launch the first week of June, but bad news for Dune fans — that tier will not include Warner's 2021 theatrical releases, currently set to debut simultaneously in theaters and HBO Max.

 

This new price point does represent a significant discount from the current ad-free tier price of $14.99, though it is the most expensive ad-supported streaming service currently available. However, HBO Max promises that the new offering will feature the lightest ad load among ad-supported streamers (which currently include Paramount+, Peacock, and Hulu).

 

“HBO Max with Ads will bring our beloved entertainment brands and franchises to even more consumers at this new, lower price point-while, for the first time, elegantly connecting brands to the premium, iconic IP that defines this service,” said Tony Goncalves, EVP and Chief Revenue Officer for WarnerMedia in a statement, released following the company's upfronts presentation to advertisers.

 

It's a massive change for the digital platform, when you consider how for 40 years the HBO brand has been associated with premium ad-free content, much of it only appropriate for adults — as one person put it on Twitter:

 

gonna be fascinating to watch tony soprano whack a guy and then cut to a levitra ad https://t.co/csLDO3ipxH

— Gavin Purcell (@gavinpurcell) May 19, 2021

 

But beyond this mental adjustment to ads on Game of Thrones and Entourage, there's a larger question. Currently, of the major streamers, the list of those without ad-supported subscription options are Disney+, Netflix, Apple TV+, and Amazon Prime (if you don't count Amazon Prime's incessant need to interrupt my low-key bingeing of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel with commercials for NFL football).

 

How long will that remain the case? Nearly every media conglomerate is building their own digital platforms beyond traditional broadcast and cable models — because it's hardly news that with the rise of cord-cutting, traditional broadcast and cable models are in decline. So with the opportunity to add ads to said digital platforms, HBO Max could be the tipping point for others to follow suit.

 

Who might be next is tough to guess — Disney+ is probably the least likely service to do so, as a big part of its branding is providing a refuge for families from commercials. Also, Disney owns Hulu, so if it needs a hit of that advertising crack, it's got a source right there.

 

Apple TV+ is also unlikely to do so at this stage, though that could change with time as its library continues to expand. Meanwhile, rumors about Netflix exploring advertising have abounded for years, and Amazon Prime already has no compunctions about including ads for its other programming in between episodes, though whether an ad-supported Amazon Prime model would include products and services outside of the Amazon ecosystem is a whole other question.

 

What is clear is that the media landscape has changed dramatically over the years. But for those of us who have enjoyed the blissful experience of ad-free programming thanks to digital media, our choices may soon become to either return to the days of immersion in commercials — or pay a premium for the return to silence.

 

 

Source: HBO Max Announces New (and Cheaper) Ad-Supported Subscriptions — Here's What This Could Mean for the Future of Streaming