HBO Now Users to Retain Access to Content on Amazon Fire TVs When App Rebrands to HBO on Aug. 1

In order to simplify the various way users can access HBO content, WarnerMedia announced they would be killing off HBO Go and rebranding HBO Now to just HBO. That way, instead of having HBO Go, HBO Now and HBO Max, there will only be HBO and HBO Max apps left.

With the media company presently in a squabble with Amazon over a distribution deal for HBO Max, the news left people wondering what would become of HBO Now subscribers who access the service through the e-commerce giant as their deal was set to expire on July 31.

Now, however, those questions have been put to bed as the companies have reached an agreement to allow HBO Now customers to access content through the HBO app on Fire TVs, as negotiations for HBO Max continue. “Amazon notified Fire TV customers of the development in emails this week,” according to Variety. “In addition, the ecommerce giant noted that customers can continue watching HBO content on Amazon devices with an HBO subscription via Prime Video Channels.”

Roku, which is also tangled in negotiations with WarnerMedia over HBO Max, already had a deal in place to allow HBO Now users access through the HBO app.

WarnerMedia recently reported that HBO Max, which launched on May 27, added 4.1 million subscribers in its first month after launch. The number would have been higher had the app been available on Amazon and Roku, which boast nearly early 80 million active streamers.

At the center of the dispute with Amazon and Roku is whether HBO Max is available via Amazon Prime Video Channels or The Roku Channel’s Premium Subscription service. Since Roku and Amazon already distributed HBO Now, the sides not only have to reach a deal to upgrade current subscribers to HBO Max, but whether they will continue to distribute it through their marketplace going forward.

HBO Now is thought to be the most popular service offered via Amazon Prime Video Channels, but it comes at a cost. It has been reported that Amazon keeps 30 percent of subscription revenue every month, which makes it an expensive channel of distribution. In 2018, TDG estimated that nearly 53 percent of HBO’s direct-to-consumer subscribers came from Amazon Channels.