Another challenger approaches. Like Disney, CBS, Apple, and NBC before it, AT&T/WarnerMedia has its sights set on Netflix's streaming video crown. The company's new streaming service, which is expected to launch spring 2020, will be called HBO Max, and will combine HBO's award-winning programming slate with Warner Bros.' vast content library, as well as a handful of original movies and television series.
That's all well and good, but does HBO Max really have what it takes to cut into Netflix's reign? It's still too early to say. But if you're already trying to figure out your streaming budget for the next year or two, we've stacked up what we know about the new service against it's presumed biggest competition in a post we'll be constantly updating as the new service approaches.
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HBO Now is going mainstream. A new deal brings the standalone streaming service to Verizon Internet customers, giving users a reason to celebrate, not to mention binge-watch. The service, which serves HBO’s entire catalog without the need for a cable or satellite subscription — “all you need is the internet.” Now Verizon can sell you both, and HBO looks poised to reap the benefits.
While Verizon Internet customers will have new opportunities to check out the service without the need for cable, the deal includes the rights for Verizon distribute HBO Now “to Verizon digital platforms, including to more than 100 million Verizon Wireless customers and other consumers with handsets and/or tablets.” The deal opens up a plethora of opportunities for both companies to bring in new revenue streams.
Verizon announced the news Tuesday, sharing that HBO Now is available immediately to Verizon FiOS Internet and HSI customers. Customers can start with a free 30-day trial before adding the service for the standard $15 a month. From there, they’ll be able to access HBO Now by downloading the app on compatible devices, including Android phones and tablets, Amazon Fire Tablets, iPhones, iPads, and the Apple TV. Once the app is downloaded, users can select “Verizon” from the drop down menu of providers to get started, and can then access content from their devices, or computers at hbonow.com.
“Our customers want choice in accessing premium content when and where they choose, on a variety of devices,” said Ben Grad, Verizon’s executive director of content strategy and acquisition. “HBO Now brings compelling content and choice to Verizon broadband customers today.”
Verizon also highlighted the “exciting possibilities” the deal creates, especially for channeling HBO content within Verizon’s upcoming mobile video platform. Users will still have to subscribe to HBO Now for unlimited access to the network’s content, but it sounds like there will be perks either way. It’s definitely intriguing, given that Verizon has such a massive reach in the mobile market, along with its various other platforms, making HBO execs giddy with the possibility of additional dollar signs through a variety of bundling, and other tie-in opportunities for the network’s sought after content.
HBO Now has grown steadily since its April 2015 launch, quickly becoming the most profitable app in the iTunes store, and this new deal seems like a perfect chance for HBO to expand the service’s growing subscriber base. By enticing Verizon users with the free trial, HBO Now will then have the opportunity to hook them with its addictive content. We’ll see how efficiently they can convert that giant Verizon client base into customers of their own.