Earlier this week, Disney+ announced they will be partnering with Verizon to offer customers a free year of the service in order to get the leg up on subscribers. Apple previously also made a similar announcement stating customers who purchase new devices will be offered a free year of Apple TV+. Now, as expected, AT&T is following the trend with their customers, offering the upcoming HBO Max at no extra cost to their 10 million customers who are HBO subscribers, Reuters reports.
The streaming service, which will offer HBO content, plus movies and original shows as well as the classic hit Friends, will be available to customers that already pay for other AT&T-owned services such as DIRECTV or AT&T wireless phone service.
WarnerMedia also plans to launch an ad-supported tier for HBO Max in 2021, which will be offered at a lower cost. According to Reuters, the overall goal for the company is to amass 80 million global subscribers for the service by 2025, with about 50 million of those people coming from the U.S.
AT&T also hopes HBO Max will help AT&T retain wireless subscribers, and give the company the chance to pair wireless and DirecTV satellite data in order to learn more about consumers. This, in turn will allow AT&T to charge higher rates to their advertisers.