WarnerMedia’s HBO Max Streaming Service Launches In May 2020

WarnerMedia’s HBO Max streaming service is set to make its big debut in May 2020.

After keeping relatively quiet about their streaming plans since announcing the HBO Max service’s name, AT&T have formally revealed that the service will be available to consumers in May of 2020, Variety reports. Parent company AT&T have told investors that they will be spending between $1.5 billion and $2 billion for the launch year of the service, and will be spending an additional $1 billion per year in HBO Max for the foreseeable future.

To help entice viewers into the HBO Max experience, HBO subscribers who also pay for AT&T-related TV services will receive all of the package’s benefits for a full year at no additional costs. The service making use of the HBO name, as opposed to the WarnerMedia label, suggests that AT&T are heavily banking upon a lot of HBO users making the jump to HBO Max, and a free trial offer like this seems to be a smart move toward achieving that goal. In addition to the aforementioned deal, HBO Max will be bundled with AT&T TV.

AT&T have plans to aggressively market HBO Max in the near future, with aspirations to have anywhere between 75 million and 90 million subscribers by the end of 2025, with 50 million of them coming from the United States and Canada alone. Either figure would be a significant chunk of AT&T’s 170 million customers using their wireless, broadband, and TV services. WarnerMedia expect HBO Max to be profitable by 2024.

AT&T and WarnerMedia have been pushing for a massive streaming service ever since news of a merger first came to light. As such, it can be expected that they will want to hit the ground running with this streaming service in the face of Disney’s Disney+ and Hulu, Comcast’s Peacock, and the existing streaming giants of Netflix and Amazon Prime.

Previously announced projects being developed for WarnerMedia’s HBO Max include a Dune series centered on an order of women known as the Bene Gesserit, with Denis Villeneuve directing the pilot episode. Furthermore, WarnerMedia’s streaming service will include Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai, an animated prequel series revealing the origins of the cute but dangerous creatures.

HBO Max will launch commercially in May 2020 with an anticipated 10,000 hours of premium content.

Source: Variety