HBO Max is raising the price of its subscriptions for the first time since the streaming service launched in March 2020. The increase comes after a cost cut by Warner Bros. Discovery to reduce expenses, which has already resulted in the removal and cancellation of several series, shorts and movies from HBO Max.
Speaking of prices, the readjustment affects the monthly fee for HBO Max users in the United States as of last Thursday (12) which will increase by US$ 1, from US$ 14.99 to US$ 15.99.
According to Olhar Digital, HBO Max’s advisory confirmed that the readjustment will not be applied to the Latin American market, so the monthly fee will not change for users in Europe. She further justified the price change as follows:
This one dollar price increase will allow us to continue investing in providing even more culture-defining programming and improving the customer experience for all users.
However, not all plans will have an increase, as is the case with the basic one with ads, which costs US$ 9.99 per month and is not available in Europe.
Despite everything, the readjustment had already been mentioned by JB Perrette, president and CEO of streaming and global games at Warner Bros. Discovery, in November 2022, when he mentioned that the opportunity for this to occur already existed, confirming the possibility in early 2023:
It’s been three years since pricing changed, which we think is an opportunity, especially in this environment… we believe there’s actually some price advantage for us on the ad-free service and we can probably move north from where pricing is today.
HBO Max originally launched in 2020 as a service part of WarnerMedia, which at the time was owned by AT&T, but was acquired by Discovery in 2022, forming Warner Bros. Discovery, which now runs the platform.
