Max — the streaming service that houses all the shows and movies from the combined Warner Bros. Discovery universe — is now available to watch in full on YouTube. Or, rather, on YouTube Primetime Channels.
That’s the somewhat clunky name for the scheme by which you can watch subscription services from within YouTube itself. It’s exactly the same idea as what’s going on with NFL Sunday Ticket. You subscribe and watch on YouTube and pay via your Google account. It’s also pretty much the exact same thing as Max on Amazon Prime Channels. But unlike the Amazon options, only one flavor of Max is available on YouTube PrimeTime Channels. You’ll get the full version, sans advertising, for $16 a month. (It rounds up to a little more than $18 a month after taxes.)
In addition to NFL Sunday Ticket, YouTube Primetime Channels has more than three dozen other subscriptions from which you can choose, including streaming services like Paramount+, Starz, and AMC+, or Tastemade, MGM+, and Fandor. Or, you can rent or purchase individual shows and movies. And you can do it from any device that supports YouTube, which is basically every device.
If this all sounds like it’s further complicating the state of streaming, you’re not wrong. A lot of this is also available via YouTube TV, and YouTube is also where you’ll go to watch anything you’ve previously purchased on the now-defunct Google Play Movies & TV service. But YouTube and YouTube TV are not the same thing, even though there’s a ton of overlap there. (Cue the questioning as to when Google might try to combine those two services somehow.)
One last nugget: If you subscribe to Max on YouTube Primetime Channels, you’ll also have access to the Bleacher Report Sports Add-On, a separate add-on to Max. Or, rather, it will be at some point — but for now, it’s available free to all Max subscribers until March.
