At an event held in the United States and streamed worldwide, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) unveiled its new streaming platform, called Max. The service will debut first in the United States, on May 23, and then it will expand to Latin America in the northern hemisphere autumn, as the company preannounced in mid 2022.
The new OTT will combine content from both HBO Max and Discovery+ and will include productions from all WBD brands. HBO Max will disappear, whereas Discovery+ will remain in operation (in Latin America, Discovery+ is available only in Brazil and Puerto Rico).
“Its library will be the largest in the world, for we are the greatest producers of content in the industry,” asserted Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav. “Max will offer entertainment to every member of the household,” he added.
According to the company, Max will release 40 titles every month. The upcoming originals include a Harry Potter series, a Game of Thrones prequel, a spin-off of The Big Bang Theory, a series entitled The Penguin (one of Batman’s foes), a new season of True Detective, a series based on The Conjuring, HGTV’s Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge, Discovery’s reality show Survive The Raft, an animated series on the Tiny Toons and another focused on Gremlins.
WBD officials also highlighted that Max will enhance user experience by including an easier content search system and a more powerful and personalized recommendations and alerts engine. The advertising campaign that will be launched in the United States will be the most important in the company’s history.
The prices in the United States will be the same as the ones charged for the two packages currently offered by HBO Max. A higher plan will be added. The new service will include three tiers, one of which will be ad-supported and two of which will be ad-free. The monthly prices will be USD 9.99, USD 15.99 and USD 19.99 respectively. The three options will offer discounts for yearly payment. The advantages of the higher plan include 4K UHD content, higher sound quality (Dolby Atmos) and the possibility of using four devices simultaneously. Prices for Latin America have not been disclosed so far.
