HBO Max is the next streaming service to receive a price increase, the first since its launch in 2020. As of Thursday, the cost of a new subscription to HBO Max will increase from $14.99 to $15.99 per month. Existing subscribers will pay the new price with their next billing cycle “on or after” February 11.
“This $1 price increase allows us to continue to invest in providing even more culture-defining programming and improving our customer experience for all users,” HBO Max wrote in a press email.
While Netflix’s creeping price increases have accumulated over several years, many streaming services have been raising prices in recent months to prove to investors that they can build viable businesses.
But with HBO Max’s many recent content removals, including West world and hundreds of classic cartoons and Sesame Street episodes, this price increase is just that little bit extra, since you now pay a little more for a lot less content. It looks like the ad-supported plan will keep its $9.99 per month cost.
WarnerMedia merged with Discovery last April, and the combined companies now have a $30 billion market cap — half of the $60 billion they assessed immediately after the merger. At a recent conference, David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, that “it’s going to be tough” to meet the company’s $12 billion 2023 earnings forecast. according to CNBCand this price increase could help close some of that gap.
This spring, HBO Max and Discovery Plus will be merged into one app, which will reportedly be called Max.
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