HBO Max Launches Today: Everything You Need To Know

Topline: WarnerMedia officially joins the streaming wars today with the launch of HBO Max, its new service that combines original shows, library content from a range of WarnerMedia properties, and programming from pay cable network HBO. HBO Max wades into a competitive field including Disney+ and Netflix, hoping to distinguish itself on the strength of its existing brand.

• The service costs $14.99 per month, the same as HBO Now, the streaming version of the pay cable network, but more than existing competitors. Apple TV+ AAPL , which launched in November, costs $10 per month less, while more established veterans Netflix NFLX and Hulu are a few bucks cheaper.
• WarnerMedia has added a slew of distribution partners for HBO Max, in an effort to widen its initial delivery. If you subscribe to HBO via Verizon VZ , Cox Communications and more, you can get the new channel for free. However, the company didn’t secure a deal with several major players, including Comcast CMCSA — which, not incidentally, has its own streamer, Peacock, rolling out soon.
• HBO Max launches only in the United States.
• The new streamer will rely more heavily on library content at launch than some other recent new entries, such as AppleTV+ and Quibi. The upside: That content is well-known and in-demand, including Warner Bros. productions The Big Bang Theory and the highly anticipated return of Friends, which went off Netflix at the end of 2019. A much-hyped Friends reunion special has been delayed by coronavirus, though.
• New content on HBO Max includes the Anna Kendrick romcom Love Life, The Not Too Late Show with Elmo (HBO owns rights to Sesame Street, and new episodes of the kids’ show will now stream on HBO Max first), a new Looney Tunes program and underground ballroom competition show Legendary.
• WarnerMedia owner AT&T T has committed $4 billion to HBO Max over the coming three years.

Tangent: Confused by the name? While it plays on two well-known WarnerMedia brands (HBO and Cinemax), HBO Max contains much more content than just those premium cable channels. That has led some consumers to confuse the service with HBO Now and analysts to question the wisdom of using such a moniker.

Big number: WarnerMedia has stated its goal is to hit 50 million subscribers by 2025, a number Netflix didn’t reach until 2014 — but Disney+ hit in just five months. The moral may be that having an established global conglomerate behind you, like AT&T behind WarnerMedia, is the key to hitting lofty distribution goals.

Crucial quote: “Establishing a scaled, on-demand distribution platform is a great growth opportunity for our entire company and for consumers worldwide. Consumers are watching more video than ever before, even as their viewing and spending on general entertainment shifts online,” AT&T incoming CEO John Stankey said last fall during an HBO Max launch event.

Further reading: WarnerMedia Ramps Up Streaming Commissions Ahead Of HBO Max Launch (Jeff Ewing)