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Max Streaming Subscribers To Face Higher Fees Under New Warner Bros. Discovery Pricing
June 5, 2024
On Tuesday, Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max revealed that it will raise prices for its ad-free subscriptions, following a trend among various streaming services to hike membership fees.
This decision comes just 12 days ahead of the premiere of the second season of HBO’s “Game of Thrones” prequel “House of the Dragon,” which brought in almost 10 million viewers for its first episode, setting a new record for HBO.
At present, Max offers three subscription tiers: a plan with ads, an ad-free plan, and an ultimate ad-free plan that provides more device access and additional download capabilities compared to the lower-priced options.
The ad-free subscription for the streaming service will see a $1 monthly rise to $16.99, with the annual ad-free plan rising by $20 to $169.99 per year. Moreover, the ultimate ad-free plan will go up by $1 per month to $20.99, with the annual ultimate plan increasing by $10 to $209.99 per year. The ad-supported tier will stay the same, priced at $9.99 per month or $99.99 annually.
New subscribers will be subject to the raised price immediately, whereas current subscribers will face the higher rates beginning with their next billing cycle on or after July 4.
Warner Bros. Discovery’s price increase comes after the announcement of its collaboration with Disney, which will see the bundling of their streaming platforms Disney+, Max, and Hulu. The bundle will come in ad-supported and ad-free versions, with the exact pricing yet to be shared.
Last month, Warner Bros. Discovery fell short of both revenue and profit expectations in its first-quarter earnings report, despite gaining an additional 2 million direct-to-consumer streaming subscribers during the same period.
During the company’s earnings call, CEO David Zaslav expressed optimism that subscribers will remain loyal to the bundled offering to benefit from discounted rates. He said this would reduce customer churn, which he described as a significant challenge in the streaming industry.
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