In an interview with Reuters, John Stankey, WarnerMedia’s Chief Executive said that HBO Max will be no extra cost for AT&T subscribers with already have HBO. But in order to reach their goal of 50 million subscribers around the world, and 80 million in the U.S. — the company has other plans.
WarnerMedia is planning to launch an ad-supported option at at lower cost according to Reuters. This matches up to what UBS Analyst John Hodulik shared the other day, saying that the service could be as low as $8 with advertising. The ad-supported option won’t come right away though, as it’s expected to come in 2021.
While AT&T has been doing their best to kill of AT&T TV NOW, it seems like live channels will be a part of HBO Max in the future. In July, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said that he expects to add premium live sports to HBO Max in the future. “This won’t be at the early stages of HBO Max, but you should assume that ultimately HBO Max will have live elements,” according to Stephenson.
Sources to Reuters shared the same, saying that live television would be part of HBO Max, but not right away. The service will have a live component, but it won’t come until after they launch the ad-supported version in 2021.
Next week, AT&T will unveil more details about the service including pricing and exact timing of launch. While we already know some content coming to the service, like the entire library of Friends, Big Bang Theory, Sesame Street, as well as originals from Katey Cuoco and Anna Kendrick — HBO Max will finally share all.