Will Warner Bros. Discovery Hike HBO Max Prices?
variety.comTodd Spangler NY Digital EditorWarnerMedia and Discovery are on the cusp of officially closing their deal. With the change in leadership at the new Warner Bros.
Discovery, will there be pricing changes for the new conglomerate’s flagship HBO Max streaming service?Insiders say there aren’t any immediate plans to alter HBO Max’s pricing scheme — in the U.S., it currently costs $14.99/month without ads, the same as it did when the service debuted in May 2020, and $9.99/month with ads.Similarly, it’s likely that Discovery Plus will remain at $6.99/month without ads and $4.99/month with ads for the time being. “I don’t think [pricing] is going to be sorted right out of the gate,” says a source familiar with the companies.
But Warner Bros. Discovery wants to pool its streaming properties together, on the theory that a bigger, broader content offering will reel in more new subscribers.
When the deal closes, two of HBO Max’s key architects are exiting: WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar and HBO Max EVP/general manager Andy Forssell, both early execs at Hulu.
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