HBO Max returns to Prime Video in the United States

Absent from Amazon Prime’s video channels, HBO Max has returned to the platform.

As a result of the new deal between both Amazon and Warner Bros. Discovery, the streaming service HBO Max has returned to Amazon’s Prime Video channels. In addition, the deal extends at the earliest through the end of 2024. It will allow HBO Max subscribers to be automatically upgraded to the consolidated HBO Max/Discovery+ service that will arrive next spring.

In September 2021, under WarnerMedia, HBO Max “dropped off of Prime channels” after WarnerMedia and Amazon failed to reach an agreement on a deal surrounding the distribution of services. At the time, AT&T had owned WarnerMedia and was seeking to have more control over direct-to-customer relationships. In response, Amazon expressed a desire to leave if WarnerMedia did not adjust its stance, which led to the separation.

According to Variety, this affected around 5 million subscribers who subscribed to the service through Prime Video channels. This in response caused the number of HBO Max subscribers to decrease.

On Tuesday, December 6, things changed due to Discovery’s acquisition of WarnerMedia earlier in 2022. HBO Max, with a new parent company, returned to availability on Prime Video Channels in the United States, “under the multiyear deal between Amazon and Warner Bros. Discovery.”

Cem Sibay, who is the Vice President of Prime Video, expressed his positive feelings about the updated deal.

As stated in Variety, Sibay said, “We strive to offer customers the best and widest selection of premium content available for their everyday viewing experience…Now with the addition of HBO Max again, customers can easily add this subscription and enjoy even more award-winning and fan-favorite entertainment on Prime Video.”

HBO Max remains at $14.99 per month through all platforms, including the Prime Video app. The deal allows subscribers to have automatic access to the HBO Max/Discovery + streaming service slated to be released in the spring of 2023.

The service has a possibility of being called just “Max”, as reports have listed

However, there has not been a statement on whether or not existing customers–individuals who already subscribe to HBO Max–will be able to migrate to the merged service if they subscribe on other platforms.

HBO Max has 15,000 hours of content and hosts favorite titles, franchises, and companies, including HBO original programming, Warner Bros., DC Comics titles, recent Hollywood film releases and popular classics, and additional third-party content that includes Cartoon Network.

Subscribers to HBO/HBO Max have gone up, with the amount for its direct-to-consumer subscribers increasing in the third quarter of 2022, with “2.8 million worldwide across HBO, HBO Max, Discovery+ and smaller DTC streaming services,” reaching up to 94.9 million.

HBO Max being available back inside of Amazon Prime’s Video Channels service is a plus for consumers in that more people will be able to have access to the content and, hopefully for HBO and Discovery, subscribers will increase, and more people will be exposed to the plethora of content available to all audiences, from big budget and independent films and comic book heroes to compelling fantasy dramas, original series, and some of the latest Hollywood blockbusters.

The world of streaming is both the present and the future and it is always positive to see a streaming giant become more easily accessible to a wider audience.