BURBANK, Calif.—Warner Bros. Discovery has unveiled its new Max streaming service, which will launch in the U.S. on May 23 with content from both HBO and the Discovery brands. Pricing for Max will remain the same as the HBO Max ad-supported and ad-free tiers.
Max will be a destination for HBO Originals, Warner Bros. films, Max Originals, the DC universe, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, an expansive offering of kids content, and programing across food, home, reality, lifestyle and documentaries from brands like HGTV, Food Network, Discovery Channel, TLC, ID and more, the company explained.
While the new service combines both HBO and Discovery content, discovery+ will continue as a standalone service. HBO Max subs will be moved to the Max app.
"From the biggest superheroes to real life champions; from culture-shaping dramas to taste-shaping entertainment; from fantastical realms to the realest of worlds, Max will offer an unrivaled range of choice," said JB Perrette, president & CEO, Global Streaming & Games, Warner Bros. Discovery. "This new brand signals an important change from two narrower products, HBO Max and discovery+, to our broader content offering and consumer proposition. While each product offered something for some people, Max will have a broad array of quality choices for everybody."
Max will offer three pricing options:
- Max Ad-Lite | $9.99/month or $99.99/year. 2 concurrent streams, 1080p resolution, no offline downloads, 5.1 surround sound quality
- Max Ad Free | $15.99/month or $149.99/year. 2 concurrent streams, 1080 resolution, 30 offline downloads, 5.1 surround sound quality.
- Max Ultimate Ad Free | $19.99/month or $199.99/year. 4 concurrent streams, up to 4K UHD resolution, 100 offline downloads, Dolby Atmos sound quality
Existing HBO Max subscribers will have access to Max at the same price as their HBO Max subscription and can visit http://help.hbomax.com/introducingMax to find out more.
Additionally, HBO Max subscribers will still have access to their current plan features for a minimum of six months following launch. HBO Max subscribers' profiles, settings, watch history, "Continue Watching," and "My List" items will also migrate to Max so they can pick up streaming right where they left off.
In terms of content, the company said the service will feature an average of more than 40 new titles and seasons every month. Audiences will be able to explore the worlds of HBO, the DC Universe, and Harry Potter, plus hit movies, original series, and genres like true crime, reality, food, and comedy.
"The Max service is a wide-ranging mosaic of content that will be unmatched in the breadth, reach, and excellence of its offerings," said Casey Bloys, chairman and CEO, HBO and Max Content. "We are unique because we have the best-in-all-categories across the board by any measure – be they ratings, awards, fandom. We know we can satisfy any craving because we have the brands that people love. At Max, they will find what they want, when they want it."
The company also announced a number of new titles, including a Max Original Harry Potter series; a Max Original comedy series derived from The Big Bang Theory; an HBO Original "Game of Thrones" prequel A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight; a Max Original drama series based on The Conjuring films; Magnolia Network's Fixer Upper: The Hotel; Discovery Channel's Survive the Raft; Max Original Peter & the Wolf from Bono, Adult Swim's Rick and Morty: The Anime; Investigation Discovery's Lost Women of Highway 20; Cartoon Network's Tiny Toons Looniversity; and TLC's Love & Translation.
In announcing the new service, the company also highlighted a number of features to improve the viewing experience:
- Premium Video Playback: A new video playback experience will deliver smooth and cinematic video to users, wherever and however they prefer to watch. Whether binging their favorites, watching offline on-the-go, or tuning in on Sunday nights for the latest episode of Succession, users can count on seamlessly diving into their preferred worlds.
- Personalization: Max will expand personalization beyond just the home page, offering a differentiated and high-performing experience for every user across the whole service. By significantly increasing our investment in machine learning while maintaining an editorial voice, Max will deliver a unique human and machine approach that will help surface the best content for our users.
- More Prominent Kids Experience: At launch, Max will introduce a default kids profile for new subscribers along with accompanying parental controls. Parents can choose to customize settings and select to limit content for the kids profile by ratings: little kids (tv-y), big kids (tv-y7, tvy7-fv), big kids plus (tv-g, g), preteens (tv-pg/pg), or teens (tv-14, pg-13). Parents will also have the ability to set individual profile PINs to lock access to their adult profiles, as well as a parent code to lock their children inside of the Max kids experience.
- Simplified Navigation: Streamlined categories, improved content details pages, shortcuts, dedicated brand hubs and thematic content rails, make exploring the app and discovering new interests easier. The updated design coupled with a better personalization engine will help consumers quickly find and discover the best of what they are looking for.
- 4K UHD: The Ultimate Ad-Free tier of Max will have an expanded catalog of content available in 4K UHD including key programming such as Game of Thrones, The Last of Us, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, The Dark Knight Trilogy and more. All Warner Bros. movies released this year and going forward will also be available in 4K UHD when they arrive on Max following their theatrical windows.
