Want to know everything there is to know about HBO Max? We have you covered!
Since its Mar 2023 , HBO Max has been competing with the major companies in the US streaming market. The site now has one of the strongest content lineups available after almost three years.
With a lineup that includes prestige TV shows associated with the HBO brand, movies from the vast Warner Bros. back catalogue, and much more, HBO Max is able to compete with competing services like Netflix and Disney Plus.
This means that popular comedy like Rick and Morty, Friends, and South Park will coexist with critically praised HBO classics like The Sopranos, Succession, and its most recent smash hit The Last of Us. Moviegoers can enjoy everything from DC Comics adaptations (The Dark Knight, The Suicide Squad) to live-action films.
This article is an excellent place to start if you’re intrigued about HBO Max and want to know if the $15.99 per month (ad-free) package is worth it. We go through all the information you require, including what HBO Max is, how much it costs, what content is available, and much more.
HBO Max was first only available in the US, but in 2021 it was made available in the Nordic nations of Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland as well as Spain and Andorra. The streamer was launched in 15 additional European nations in March 2022, including Portugal, Poland, the Netherlands, and Croatia.
HBO Max is not presently available to UK viewers. However in 2019, HBO and UK broadcaster Sky agreed to a four-year deal that would allow Sky to air certain of HBO’s films and TV programming. Hence, even though there are reports that the relationship will be extended before it expires in 2024, HBO Max is unlikely to launch in the UK before then.
HBO-produced content is still available to British viewers despite HBO Max’s absence in the UK. Some of the studio’s most popular films and TV shows can be viewed with a suitable Sky or Now TV subscription, with just a select few exceptions.
In 2023, it appears that HBO Max’s character and accessibility will undergo a significant change. HBO Max as it is currently known may only exist for a few more months as the platform’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), plans to combine HBO Max with Discovery Plus to create a new super streamer sometime this year.
WBD chief JB Perrette explained how this new streamer will demonstrate that it is more than the sum of its parts in August 2022: “While HBO Max offers a competitive feature set, there have been some performance and user problems. Although its features are somewhat constrained, Discovery Plus boasts best-in-class performance and customer ratings. The goal of our integrated service will be to provide the best of both worlds.”
Although the specifics of this unified service are unknown, it is safe to presume that when it eventually goes live, all of HBO Max’s programming will be moved there.
There are now two HBO Max subscription tiers available(opens in new tab). The main, ad-free plan now costs $15.99 (about £13 or AU$23) per month, while the less expensive, ad-supported option now costs $9.99 (around £8 or AU$14) per month.
The latter grants subscribers access to the same collection of films and TV episodes, but they are not permitted to download anything for offline watching. The maximum video quality is 1080p.
HBO Max is at the more costly end of the streaming service range according to its base pricing of $15.99. In contrast, the monthly cost of Disney Plus is $7.99 (with advertisements) or $10.99 (without ads) / £7.99 / AU$11.99. The normal Netflix tier, meanwhile, is $15.49/£9.99/AU$16.99 per month. Check out our dedicated HBO Max price guide to find out more and see how the service stacks up against the competition.
It’s also worth noting that all existing direct HBO subscribers get HBO Max for free, as well as those subscribed to the channel via the following:
- Altice One
- Atlantic Broadband
- Apple TV
- AT&T TV
- AT&T U-verse
- Cox
- DIRECTV
- Optimum
- RCN
- Spectrum
- Suddenlink
- Verizon FIOS
- WOW!
- Xfinity
- Hulu
