Get ready to make "Friends" with HBO Max: That's the name of WarnerMedia's new direct-to-consumer streaming service, set to launch in the spring of 2020 with 10,000 hours of content, including all episodes of '90s hit "Friends."
However, WarnerMedia still hasn't announced pricing for the service, which will compete with Netflix, Hulu, and Disney Plus, among others.
HBO Max will combine content from HBO with a slate of originals and programming from Warner Bros., New Line, DC Entertainment, CNN, TNT, TBS, truTV, The CW, Turner Classic Movies, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Crunchyroll, Rooster Teeth, and Looney Tunes.
New deals with Warner Bros. Television and others for HBO Max announced today include:
• The exclusive streaming rights at launch to all 236 episodes of "Friends" — one of the biggest hits on television and in streaming
• The exclusive streaming rights at launch to all episodes of fan favorites "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air" and "Pretty Little Liars"
• The exclusive streaming home to a string of new Warner Bros.' produced dramas for The CW beginning with the fall 2019 season, including the highly-anticipated new DC Entertainment series "Batwoman," and "Katy Keene" (spinoff of "Riverdale")
• New exclusive movie production deals with Greg Berlanti, one of Hollywood's most prolific and successful producers, and Reese Witherspoon, Academy Award® and Emmy Award®-winning actress and producer; Berlanti will produce an initial four movies focused in the young adult space, while Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine will produce at least two films
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More streaming services inbound - HBO Max revealed, will snatch Friends from Netflix
- Thread starter BAD
- Start date
Max | The One to Watch
Say hello to Max, the streaming platform that bundles all of HBO together with even more of your favorite movies and TV series, plus new Max Originals.
From the press release:
I'm not a big fan of the name, but the content is going to be pretty great, I think.
Man, I fucking hate this division of content with all of these different streaming services. I'm basically just sticking with Netflix and I'll find ways to watch the occasional essential content like GoT.
At least I can share logins with people rather than having to pay for a huge ass cable bill.
I split the bill on HBO and Netflix with multiple families, so I don't feel the burn as much. Plus being able to turn off and on services whenever I want makes all of this still better than cable.
I split the bill on HBO and Netflix with multiple families, so I don't feel the burn as much. Plus being able to turn off and on services whenever I want makes all of this still better than cable.
This is either going to fully replace HBO Now or it will be a second price tier of the service. It's most likely the latter, based on the name "Max"
If I had to guess, HBO Now will stay at $15 and this will be $18 or $20
It's simple economics? Why lose out on money from your own shows? Why share the profit with the a third-party when you don't have to?
On topic, the line-up of content providers sounds interesting. If they can get the entire back-catalog of shows from Adult Swim, TNT, Crunchyroll, TCM, etc. this could be an incredibly strong contender to Disney+/Hulu and Netflix.
Um, excuse me, but I just got City Connection (NES) last month thanks to Nintendo's robust online service.
yeah, will just buy season passes on iTunes for stuff or wait for disc sets for the stuff i want. No way am I adding a Warner/HBO service, a Disney+ service, AppleTV+ to netflix. Even Prime is a bit of a waste for me and I'm thinking it's not worth it for Grand Tour and Mrs Maisel.
That and there's a fucking TV license in the UK if you want BBC iplayer.
That and there's a fucking TV license in the UK if you want BBC iplayer.
Gamers aren't used to content being locked to specific platforms
Warner will find a way to fuck up their own streaming then, too.
I mean, I enjoyed the show back in the day, but how the hell is "Friends" supposed to be this huge selling point in 2019? I don't get it.
Don't they already have like two different subscription models for streaming HBO already? Lol this is wack
Totally true. Amazon Prime, Netflix, HBO Go, and Hulu already cost more than cable would for me. Every company is coming out with their own with Disney Plus, Comcast's offering, and now this.
Sure but having a million different streaming services with exclusive content isn't sustainable
If we don't hear news on Doom Patrol S2 by comic con, it's probably dead. :(
It's dead Jim. Also, will this merge with HBO GO or the VRV app?
I might get this since I'm considering canning my Netflix account.
Also, guys, we still got the Universal service. LOL, miss cable yet?
More and more do these streaming services feel like cable. At least we don't have ads (for now). I wonder what pricing is going to be HBO by itself is 15 bucks which is a lot for a streaming service. If it stays that price and they just roll it into a new subscription I'd be game for that. Only reason I have HBO is because my parents do at their house so I use their login. I wouldn't pay for it by itself.
The only weird thing is using the HBO branding for content like friends and PLL.
The only weird thing is using the HBO branding for content like friends and PLL.
Netflix is going to have a hard time competing with things like this and Disney +. They've got a few big breakouts but they will no longer have access to the 'filler' stuff they've relied on previously. They simply haven't been around to have shows with massive episode counts and followings like The Office or Friends or Simpsons or Fresh Prince or whatever.
Given all the content they're talking about launching it with, I wouldn't be surprised to see if it had a $20-25 price tag.
Stuff like Friends, The Office, Parks and Rec, etc make up a tiny portion of Netflix's catalog, but make up a significant amount of the actual streaming activity on Netflix. Netflix will never admit that publicly, of course, but there's a reason they were so willing to shell out for Friends for a year.
Now, whether that activity will cross over to three or four different streaming services, that's another question.
