Max: the new Warner Bros. Discovery streaming service explained
Harry Potter has a new home
The crossover event of 2023 is here. No, it’s not the latest convoluted Marvel picture. HBO Max and Discovery Plus have merged to create Max, the freshest streaming service on the market.
Max is the homestead for Warner Bros. Discovery content. That includes franchises such as Harry Potter, Game of Thrones and Looney Tunes, alongside original content and exclusives. It will also exclusively host old and forthcoming A24 titles, including indie hits like Uncut Gems and Everything Everywhere All At Once.
Here’s everything you need to know about it.
What is it?
Max is the all-in-one home for HBO Max and Discovery Plus TV shows and movies. The new streaming service plays host to Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, Sesame Street and much more. As Warner Bros. Discovery owns the rights to Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman, those titles have hit the service too. Right now, there’s also Black Adam, The Last of Us, Dune, The Big Bang Theory, Friends, Euphoria, Succession, The Curse, and Avatar: The Way of Water just to name a few.
Discovery Plus, meanwhile, brings its catalogue of unscripted and reality shows to the streaming service. This includes the likes of Deadliest Catch, Fixer Upper and the generation defining Dr. Pimple Popper.
It’s also the home to titles from networks such as CNN, Cartoon Network, Eurosport, and related brands. Other content comes from The Criterion Collection, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and New Line Cinema.
Why?
While the multibillion dollar merger of HBO Max and Discovery Plus was only approved by investors on 8 April, the venture has been a long time in the making. The merger between WarnerMedia and Discovery was confirmed in 2022, and resulted in a number of formerly in the works projects being unceremoniously shelved. Around that time, murmurs of a single streaming service were being reported.
And now, that’s Max baby.
How do I get it?
Do we need another streaming service? Possibly not. But Max isn’t entirely a new service. Rather, it’s mostly a replacement for HBO Max but with loftier aims.
Warner Bros. Discovery are trying to make it as simple as possible for users to take their subscription to the Max. On 23 May, the HBO Max app automatically became Max for both old and new users. If you already have HBO Max installed, the old app should have automatically updated by now.
What does it cost?
Max operates on a tiered system that’ll unlock extra features for a price.
Subscription starts at $9.99 for an ‘ad-lite plan’, which grants access to the service, HD viewing and two concurrent streams, but remains ad-supported. $15.99 a month gets you an ad-free service, HD quality, two concurrent streams and 30 offline downloads. The most expensive package is the $19.99 per month ‘Ultimate’ tier. This comes with 4K HDR Dolby Atmos for selected content, 100 offline downloads, and four concurrent streams. Everything is also ad-free with Ultimate.
While we’ll be saying goodbye to the HBO Max app, Discovery Plus will remain as its own entity for now. For that, it’s $4.99 a month price with ads, or $6.99 a month without.
Jack Needham
