New York
Act Daily News
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HBO Max, which debuted in May 2020, is getting its first-ever worth hike.
Effective instantly, the ad-free HBO Max plan will likely be $15.99 per 30 days — a rise of $1. That’s 50 cents greater than Netflix’s commonplace plan, which prices $15.49 per 30 days. HBO Max with advertisements, which launched in June 2022, stays the identical at $9.99 per 30 days.
“This price increase of one dollar will allow us to continue to invest in providing even more culture-defining programming and improving our customer experience for all users,” the corporate mentioned in a press release. Current subscribers service can pay extra of their subsequent billing cycle on or after February 11.
The worth hikes come at a rocky time for the streaming platform and Warner Bros. Discovery, which additionally owns Act Daily News.
HBO Max caught the ire of a few of its subscribers for pulling quite a few reveals from the service, equivalent to “Westworld” and “Raised by Wolves,” in latest months to chop prices. Streaming providers nonetheless should pay residuals to casts and crews of a manufacturing, and people prices pile up. HBO Max will save “north of $100 million annually” after eradicating the reveals, in line with a supply aware of HBO’s choice.
Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav beforehand promised buyers that he would discover greater than $3 billion in financial savings within the mixed group. Every division — together with Act Daily News — skilled layoffs and price chopping late final yr.
The firm additionally plans to merge HBO Max with Discovery+ later this yr, though a reputation and pricing construction have but to be revealed. Warner Bros. Discovery doesn’t get away the variety of subscribers on the platform, nevertheless it at present has almost 95 million world subscribers with HBO, HBO Max and Discovery+ mixed.
Thursday’s worth hike shouldn’t come as a shock: Gunnar Weidenfels, Warner Bros. Discovery’s chief monetary officer, mentioned at an investor convention final week that “there’s no doubt that these products are priced way too low,” referencing streaming platforms.
“We’re coming from an irrational time of overspending with very limited focus on return on investment, and I think others are going to have to make some adjustments that we frankly have behind us now,” he mentioned, in line with the Hollywood Reporter.
Separately, the value of Discovery+ stays the identical, at $6.99 per 30 days with out advertisements.