Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

HBO Max has finally come to Amazon Fire TV, still not on Roku

Nearly six months after its launch in May 2020, HBO Max has finally come to Amazon’s Fire TV.

According to an Amazon blog post, the HBO Max app should now be available for download on Fire TV devices such as the Fire TV Cube, Fire TV Sitck/Stick Lite, Fire TV Stick 4K, as well as Fire TV Edition smart TVs. Users who subscribe to HBO through Amazon’s Fire TV platform, Hulu, DirecTV, and other bundled services can also access HBO Max content on Fire TV devices.

Recommended Videos

The news comes after six months of negotiations between Warner Media and the retail giant. Warner Media is owned by AT&T. At the time of writing this article, HBO Max is still not available on the Roku platform.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

When HBO Max launched May 27, 2020, its lack of availability on Amazon Fire TV and Roku seemed like a glaring error. As of late 2019, Amazon laid claim to roughly 12% of the streaming device market, and as of January 2020, surpassed 40 million active users. Roku currently holds about 30% of the streaming device market and as of April 2020 had 39.8 million active users. All of those figures have likely risen over the past six months as streaming has surged amidst the global coronavirus pandemic.

The reason HBO Max was not available on Amazon Fire TV until now — and still isn’t on Roku — comes down to two key factors: Money and control. Amazon had initially wanted to grant its users access to HBO Max content through its Prime Video Channels service. HBO Max wanted to have its app on the Fire TV platform just like Netflix, Hulu, and other services. Apparently, the stalemate is over now that the HBO Max app is available for download.

As for the money part of things, Roku and Amazon are reportedly asking for a big cut of subscription costs. In its negotiations with Roku, this seems to be a sticking point for HBO Max. However, if Amazon was able to come to terms, perhaps Roku won’t be far behind.

Caleb Denison
Digital Trends Editor at Large Caleb Denison is a sought-after writer, speaker, and television correspondent with unmatched…
3 underrated (HBO) Max movies you should watch this weekend (December 6-8)
A group of men sit at a table in Conspiracy.

Have you defied gravity yet? If not, you're one of the few who haven't. Wicked is a genuine phenomenon right now, and one of the leading contenders for next year's Oscars. But I haven't taken a trip to Oz yet simply because there's too much good stuff on streaming right now.

That's especially true for Max, which has great films from the present to the distant past. (Yes, they even have 1939's The Wizard of Oz.) If you have a craving for movies that don't contain evil witches, pink-colored princesses, or flying monkeys, well, this list is for you. These movies may have Nazis, porn stars, and real-life artists, but they are all united by their ability to entertain and even enlighten.

Read more
2024’s most polarizing movie now has a streaming release date on Max
The Joker stands in front of two cops in an elevator in "Joker: Folie à Deux."

Arthur Fleck is singing and dancing his way to Max this month. Joker: Folie à Deux will be available to stream on Max starting on Friday, December 13. It will then make its HBO linear debut at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday, December 14.

Polarizing doesn't even begin to describe Joker: Folie à Deux. Most audiences and critics completely rejected Todd Phillips' musical. In his two-star review for Digital Trends, A.A. Dowd wrote: "The Joker sequel is unlikely to satisfy old fans or convert new ones.”

Read more
The Roku Channel app gets more functionality on Google TV
The Roku Channel app on Google TV.

When I think about Roku, I generally picture my Roku Ultra streaming box or a Roku Streaming Stick and the clean, zippy OS it provides. Roku doesn't end there though. The Roku Channel has more than 350 live channels available for free to anyone that downloads the app. It's (not surprisingly) available on any Roku streaming device or TV, but last year The Roku Channel app also became available on Google TV.

Roku has some updates on the way to improve the way The Roku Channel integrates with Google TV, mainly through its visibility on the home page and search functionality. Instead of having to navigate and search for Roku content within the app, Google TV will now show recommendations from Roku in the Google TV live TV tab. Selecting those recommendations will launch you directly into The Roku Channel app to the desired show or movie. Content will also show up when searched through Google TV's built-in search field.

Read more