Charter Customers Who Subscribe to HBO Will Get HBO Max Upgrade at No Additional Cost
WarnerMedia and Charter have reached a deal to bring HBO Max to their cable customers. All existing HBO subscribers, including those in its Spectrum Silver and Gold video packages, will be upgraded to HBO Max when it launches next month.
“Charter has been a longtime distributor of our networks and on-demand content, and a valued partner to our company,” said Rich Warren, president of WarnerMedia Distribution. “We look forward to working together to bring HBO Max to Spectrum subscribers when the product launches next month.”
Customers who currently get HBO through their cable, satellite, or Live TV Streaming Service, will need their service to opt-in to get HBO Max. AT&T has already reached a deal with YouTube TV to carry the service when it launches, but still hasn’t from companies like Comcast and Hulu. All existing AT&T customers who get HBO through HBO Now, DirecTV, AT&T TV, AT&T TV NOW, and AT&T U-Verse will be upgraded to HBO Max at no additional cost.
In order to upgrade from HBO to HBO Max, Spectrum customers will just have to download and install the HBO Max App. New subscribers will be able to purchase HBO Max directly from Charter.
“We are eager to provide Spectrum customers with the highly-anticipated HBO Max offering when it makes its debut next month,” said Tom Montemagno, Charter’s Executive Vice President, Programming Acquisition. “This new premium streaming experience will be a welcome addition to Spectrum subscribers; we will offer HBO Max on a multitude of platforms for purchase by our video, broadband and mobile customers alike.”
HBO Max will launch in May 2020 at $14.99 a month — the same price as HBO Now. Original shows include “The Flight Attendant,” a one-hour thriller series starring and co-produced by Kaley Cuoco; “Love Life,” a 10-episode half-hour romantic comedy anthology series starring and co-produced by Anna Kendrick; and “Dune: The Sisterhood,” an adaptation of Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson’s book based in the world created by Frank Herbert’s book “Dune.”
HBO Max will also be the exclusive home for “Friends” and “The Big Bang Theory.”
They also have the exclusive rights to “Sesame Street,” bringing the franchise’s entire 50-year library to a streaming platform for the first time; they also secured the U.S. streaming rights for Japan’s Studio Ghibli and have ordered two unscripted kids competition series — “Karma” and “Craftopia.”