AT&T No Longer Offers HBO Max for Free With Top Unlimited Wireless Plan
variety.comTodd Spangler NY Digital EditorAT&T has quietly dropped HBO Max as a bundled perk for new customers on its highest-tier unlimited wireless plan.The telco’s move comes two months after AT&T spun off WarnerMedia and sold it to Discovery, to form Warner Bros.
Discovery. Previously, HBO Max had been available for no extra charge with the AT&T Unlimited Elite wireless plan — and, prior to the launch of HBO Max, the carrier had offered HBO for free on its priciest mobile plans going back to 2017.“HBO Max is a great service, but we constantly experiment with the features we offer our customers to give them the best value,” an AT&T rep said in a statement to Variety.AT&T customers who have received HBO Max for no additional charge in previous offers are not affected; they will still have access to the streaming service, as long as they keep their plan.
The telco this week launched the AT&T Unlimited Premium plan (replacing Unlimited Elite), which includes 50 gigabytes of hotspot data but no longer includes HBO Max, as noted by Mobile Internet Resource Center.
Unlimited Premium starts at $50 per month per line when you get four lines. Meanwhile, AT&T’s Cricket Wireless brand still currently offers the ad-supported version of HBO Max (regularly $9.99/month) included with its $60 per month unlimited plan.AT&T unloaded WarnerMedia to become a pure-play telecommunications provider, unwinding its ill-fated foray into the entertainment biz with the acquisitions of Time Warner and DirecTV.WarnerMedia had been a drag on AT&T’s overall earnings.
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