Blog: HBO Max

Read our latest daily deep dives, hot takes, and exciting updates about the entertainment world. Check out the latest insight from your favourite analyst, or search by coverage areas - music, entertainment and fandom, creator economy and social.

What ‘Barbie’, ‘The Idol’, and more say about the future of artists in film

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Tatiana Cirisano

8 Jun 2023

Music publishing

2023 is already shaping up to be another big year for music artists in Hollywood. Late last month, Jack Harlow made his acting debut in a Hulu remake of 1992 basketball comedy White Men Can’t Jump . The Weeknd (who is now going by Abel Tesfaye) stars in Max’s controversial new series, The Idol , in which BLACKPINK's Jennie also makes her acting debut.

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Why Max is the one to watch in 2023

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Tim Mulligan

13 Apr 2023

Warner Bros. Discovery

Investors attending Warner Bros. Discovery’s Streaming Product Press Event yesterday were reminded of the history underpinning D2C disruptor HBO Max as it was rebranded Max. The narrative for the rebrand was clear: trust us to get this right as we have been doing this successfully for a very long time.

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The Last of Us – when games meet video

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Samuel Griffin

26 Jan 2023

Video streaming

The HBO Original production of Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us is solidifying the foundations of modern expectations for games video crossovers. With the games market increasingly saturated and seemingly dominated by a handful of games, companies that are acting on the cross-entertainment opportunity have a better chance of nurturing fandom of their IP and weather the current macroeconomic dynamics.

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Why TV is at risk of losing its cultural value

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Hanna Kahlert

21 Dec 2022

Warner Bros Discovery

Humans have been telling stories since they first looked at the sky and decided that clusters of stars resembled scorpions and centaurs. Storytelling is intrinsic to culture. It builds relationships, religions, national identities, and hope in dark times.

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Why HBO Max being back on Amazon Prime highlights the growing risk of piracy

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Hanna Kahlert

8 Dec 2022

Warner Bros. Discovery and Amazon have announced that HBO Max will become available on Prime Video channels in the US, with users able to subscribe through the Amazon platform. HBO Max was previously withdrawn from Amazon Channels in 2021 due to a dispute over data sharing (Amazon Channels provides less user data than an equivalent Fire TV app would do for Warner Bros.

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Why HBO Max needs to invest in the new global hit model

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Tim Mulligan

26 Oct 2021

Last week, the AT&T Q3 earnings announcement revealed that HBO Max has now reached 69.4 million subscribers (up 12.5 million from last year, and up 1.9 million from the previous quarter). Today, HBO Max went live in the Nordics and Spain, beginning its 27-territory rollout in Europe.

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HBO Max bets on prestige programming and fandom to drive its European rollout

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Tim Mulligan

5 Oct 2021

HBO Max European Launch

House of the Dragon

This morning Warner Media delivered a slick presentation announcing the October 26th launch of its D2C service, HBO Max, in the Nordics, as well as Spain and Andorra. This will be followed by a 2022 rollout to Eastern Europe and Turkey, thus taking HBO Max availability to 60 territories, with a target of 190 by 2026.

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Could HBO Max disrupt Europe?

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Tim Mulligan

10 Sep 2021

On October 26th, HBO Max will establish its European beachhead, which is launching inSweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Spain and Andorra. The D2C video service will then roll out in 2022 into Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, and Slovenia.

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The live versus streaming demographic paradox

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Hanna Kahlert

5 Jan 2021

As we begin 2021 with a vaccine on the near horizon, live venue businesses are holding on with whitening knuckles through the intermediate stricter lockdowns. However, the world has changed much in the year since the first social distancing measures were put in place – and navigating the future will look nothing like a return to the past.

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Blockbuster disruption comes to the streaming wars courtesy of HBO Max

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Tim Mulligan

8 Dec 2020

An unprecedented year for the entertainment industry has now taken yet another decisive turn. Last Thursday Warner Media’s CEO Jason Kilar announced that all Warner Bros’ 2021 releases will be available to stream exclusively on its direct-to-consumer (D2C) service HBO Max on the same day they have their box office premiers.

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The end of the pay-TV era: AT&T gets behind HBO Max

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Tim Mulligan

28 Jul 2020

The Q2 2020 AT&T financial results were not pretty. Net income for the company was down 61% year-on-year (YoY). While operating expenses were down marginally by 0.1%, the real cost to the communications major came from two fronts – its massive corporate debt pile and its imploding video subscriber base.

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Recovery Economics: What the post-lockdown world looks like for TV

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Tim Mulligan

22 Jul 2020

brave new world

recovery economics

As the quarter of the world that experienced the COVID-19 lockdowns start to fitfully open up again, the realisation that the world has irrevocably changed is starting to settle in. With the highly contagious virus still causing secondary waves of infection in multiple countries, the need to plan for a COVID-compliant future in TV production is now becoming paramount.

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FuboTV adds key sporting rights to portfolio following Disney deal

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Alistair Taylor

2 Jul 2020

Sporting rights

FuboTV, the US over-the-top (OTT) internet-delivered TV service launched back in January 2015 as a soccer-centric proposition. In that time it has established itself as a niche distributor of live streams of MLS and LatAm soccer matches to US, Canadian and Spanish audiences.

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HBO Max’s Existing IP Is Emerging as Its Key Asset

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Tim Mulligan

5 Jun 2020

One week into the HBO Max launch and its competitive edge is starting to show in an area which streaming services are not best known – their existing intellectual property. The new season 4 of adult animation Rick and Morty has been airing on Adult Swim, one of Warner Media’s pay-TV networks and for the last week on HBO Max – Warner Media’s new launched direct-to-consumer (D2C) service.

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HBO Max Now Has Its Launch Date-Will This Turn Out To Be Good Or Bad Timing?

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Tim Mulligan

24 Apr 2020

On Tuesday, AT&T subsidiary Warner Media announced the launch date for its forthcoming D2C streaming video service HBO Max. On May 27 th HBO Max will launch into a world radically different from the one envisaged at the HBO Max debut event held in October 2019.

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Joining the D2C Streaming Wars Is a Do-or-Die Moment for ViacomCBS

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Tim Mulligan

12 Feb 2020

Last Thursday CNBC reported that the newly-merged ViacomCBS is planning to launch its own direct-to-consumer (D2C) service, with a formal announcement to be made during the company’s forthcoming fourth quarter earnings conference call on February 20 th .

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The Challenge for Global D2C Growth in 2020

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Tim Mulligan

17 Jan 2020

2020 promises to be a big year for direct-to-consumer (D2C) services, with Warner Media’s HBO Max and Comcast’s Peacock set to join Apple TV+ and Disney+ in the battle to win streaming audience share both in the US and beyond.

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Roku Aims for TV Market Share with European Expansion

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Amanda Stears

26 Nov 2019

Roku has partnered with manufacturer Hisense to release its first Roku TV in the UK this coming Black Friday at Argos. Announced September 7th at the IFA 2019 a.k.a Berlin Radio Show, these smart TVs are powered by the Roku OS.

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Disney+ Recovers From Initial Blunder to Surpass 10 Million Sign Ups on Debut!

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Alistair Taylor

14 Nov 2019

21st Century Fox

all-encompassing offering

AppleTV+. Market saturation

Disney claims unexpected traffic on its newly-launched service was at fault for the buffering and technical issues of Disney+’s launch Tuesday . The issues highlight just how difficult it is transitioning from a media company to a tech player, with technical glitches an enormous issue for digital-native subscribers.

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Disney FY 2019 Results – The Final Sanity Check Before Everything Changes

Tim Mulligan

8 Nov 2019

We are now less than a week away from possibly the most important day in Disney’s 21stcentury history, as November 12this when its direct to consumer (D2C) service Disney+ goes live. While we will not have meaningful numbers come through until the end of the first calendar quarter of 2020, the weight of expectation on the iconic media powerhouse is unprecedented and today’s announcement is the last time before their bullish projections for domestic and international growth for the service start to mesh with real hard engagement metrics.

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