DoorDash Delivers Complimentary Max Subscription to DashPass Members
It’s just the latest partnership for Max, which has also teamed up with other streamers in a new bundle, as well as the educational service Chegg.
Max continues to seek out new partnerships. Warner Bros. Discovery’s flagship streaming service is now available at no extra cost with DashPass, the subscription food delivery service that allows customers to cut down on delivery fees every time they order from their favorite restaurant with DoorDash. WBD continues to seek out new bundles to attract more customers, as it fights declines from its linear channels that are not currently being matched by gains from its streaming service.
Key Details:
- Max with Ads subscriptions will be offered at no extra cost to DashPass subscribers starting Tuesday.
- Max has also partnered with Chegg in recent days, and is now available in a bundle with Disney+ and Hulu.
- The streamer has 103 million customers but dipped back into the red during the second quarter of 2024.
Starting on Tuesday, DashPass subscribers can access a complimentary Max with Ads account as part of their subscription. The Max with Ads plan normally costs $9.99 per month — or $99 per year — so any customers who are already subscribed to Max with Ads can save $3 per annum by canceling that subscription and following the link above to get a DashPass account for $96 annually, turning their streaming subscription into one with food delivery as well.
Customers with a DashPass account can also upgrade their included Max account to a Max Ad-Free subscription, but that comes with an extra $10.99 monthly charge. That still represents a $6 monthly discount over the standard ad-free Max subscription.
This is the first streaming partnership made by DoorDash, but it will look very familiar to Instacart+ subscribers, who have enjoyed free access to a Peacock subscription since November 2023. Similarly, Walmart+ customers have gotten a free Paramount+ account with their subscription for the past two years.
“Max’s partnership with DoorDash provides an exciting, complementary pairing of services with a great value for consumers,” WBD executive Pato Spagnoletto told Variety. “We are thrilled to roll out this offering and introduce a world of exclusive and iconic stories to DashPass members.”
Why is Max Entering So Many New Partnerships?
The new partnership with DoorDash could be highly beneficial to Max. Ordering food and streaming TV is a perfect lazy night in, and WBD gets to collect ad revenue from all of its new subscribers, and will likely get a wholesale rate from DoorDash for every customer that opts into their complimentary Max account. DashPass and Wolt+ — a Helsinki-based subscription service acquired by DoorDash — combine for 18 million subscribers, and they could help WBD meaningfully grow its global streaming customer total of 103 million.
Last week, Max announced a similar team-up with the educational subscription service Chegg, allowing users to sign up for free Max with Ads accounts. Max is also now part of a bundle with Disney+ and Hulu which allows viewers who sign up to save more than 35% off what they’d pay to subscribe to each service separately.
One major reason WBD is trying to bundle Max at seemingly every opportunity is that the company is not seeing its streaming service make up for losses from its linear channels. WBD still gets 50% of its total revenue from cable networks like TNT and TBS, and as ad revenues from those networks fall, the company has no way to make good the losses. Max is working toward being regularly profitable, but it’s not there yet, and it will have to show strong profits consistently if it wants to replace the revenue no longer created by WBD’s linear channels.
Putting Max in front of more eyes is a good start, and WBD will likely continue to seek out partnerships for the streamer. The company also has to keep its newly acquired viewers engaged, which is another challenge entirely. An update to its home screen could help with that, but WBD CEO David Zaslav cannot afford to sit back and wait for these various measures to bear fruit; he must continue to try and bring more customers to the streamer and improve their experience once they’re subscribed if he wants Max to be a competitor in the streaming space long term.
Max
Max is a subscription video streaming service that gives access to the full HBO library, along with exclusive Max Originals. There are hubs for content from TLC, HGTV, Food Network, Discovery, TCM, Cartoon Network, Travel Channel, ID, and more. Watch hit series like “The Last of Us,” “House of the Dragon,” “Succession,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” and more. Thanks to the B/R Sports add-on, users can watch NBA, MLB, NHL, March Madness, and NASCAR events.