The much-anticipated merger of HBO Max and Discovery Plus has arrived, with the unveiling of their combined streaming service, “Max”. Warner Bros. Discovery announced the platform’s launch on May 23rd, with subscription prices ranging from $9.99 to $19.99 per month.
CEO David Zaslav believes Max will cater to every member of the household, offering a diverse range of content. The Ultimate ad-free tier, priced at $19.99 per month, includes 4K HDR Dolby Atmos for select content, 100 offline downloads, and four concurrent streams. The standard ad-free plan costs $15.99 per month, providing HD quality, two concurrent streams, and 30 offline downloads, while the most affordable ad-supported tier offers HD quality and two concurrent streams for $9.99 per month.
Existing HBO Max users will be automatically migrated to Max on May 23rd, with their profiles, watch histories, and billing information transferred. The standalone Discovery Plus option will still be available at its current price of either $4.99 per month with ads or $6.99 per month without ads.
The Max streaming service comes after WarnerMedia’s megamerger with Discovery last year, which led to the discontinuation of several shows and movies. Max Originals teased during the press event include DC’s The Penguin, a spinoff of The Big Bang Theory, and a fresh take on The Conjuring. Zaslav also highlighted popular franchises owned by the company, such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Game of Thrones, The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Sesame Street, and Looney Tunes.
In terms of content, Max combines Discovery Plus’ unscripted shows like Fixer Upper and Dr. Pimple Popper with HBO Max’s original content such as Succession, The Last of Us, and Game of Thrones. The Max app’s interface also receives an upgrade, addressing shortcomings of the HBO Max and Discovery Plus apps with a new content navigation system, personalized recommendations, and a shortcut for saving content to watch later lists.
With Max, Warner Bros. Discovery aims to compete with streaming giants like Netflix and Disney Plus. In a 2021 CNBC interview, Zaslav stated that the combined company’s diverse content portfolio could potentially reach 400 million homes in the long term. However, the current goal is more modest, with the target set at 130 million subscribers across HBO, Discovery Plus, and Max by 2025. The three services currently have a combined total of 96.1 million global subscribers, which pales in comparison to Netflix’s 230 million subscribers.
To secure more subscribers, Warner Bros. Discovery must find a way to entice viewers in a market saturated with streaming services and increasing prices. Whether Max’s diverse content offering will prove sufficient remains to be seen.