Max (formerly HBO Max)

In the US, Friends is moving over from Netflix to this new streaming service. If it expands into Australia, it will be moved from Stan, who will also lose Seinfeld in the wake of Netflix securing global streaming rights from 2021, as well as the Disney content when Disney+ launches here in November.

Also, it is looking to pick up streaming rights for The Big Bang Theory and Two & A Half Men, reported to be worth over $1 billion. The former is currently available on Netflix in many countries outside the US & Canada, including the UK, Australia & NZ.

Seems strange to me to use the HBO name then when the content wouldn’t really align with what they are well known for, but then again I could be a little naive on that I guess.

Not long after Warner took over they said that HBO had to make more hits and make more money.

I guess the HBO Max strategy fits the latter. Hopefully it won’t lead to a drop in quality for the linear channel.

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Wouldn’t it be stranger if their streaming service was called Warner Bros and they obliterated the HBO brand? I guess they just went with what is likely to be more appealing to subscribers and have longevity, so HBO is better.

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I’m excited about this, I’m an HBO fan although I think that with the influx of many streaming services, it’s again pushing some people to go back to illegally downloading contents. Highly fragmented streaming services does not make much economic sense to fee paying customers.

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This is a really interesting discussion point that is worthy of a thread to itself

But hasn’t Hulu had their name trademarked here for years and we don’t have Hulu in Australia.

Yeah I agree with the comment above about illegal downloading. I don’t want more than 3 streaming services. I am contemplating getting rid of Stan at the moment and Netflix is something I wouldn’t get rid of.

I actually find Stan’s contents to be more curated than Netflix so I actually gave Netflix the flick but then again I only got budget for three streaming services and two digital news subscription.

How so?
I think it’s about choice for consumers, where they get an offer of streaming services that they can pick and ignore others.

Wonder when Foxtel’s exclusivity to HBOs streaming rights ends. Can’t be too far away if trademarks are been made.

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In Australia, HBO content lives on Foxtel under a deal that is widely known to run for at least couple more years.
SMH. April 14, 2019.

That’s a US deal for Big Bang? It appeared on Netflix not that long ago here.

Correct. Also, according to their Facebook page, Netflix Australia will add Season 11 of TBBT on 17th October.

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I can’t find anything online saying HBO Max would launch globally.

Read the first post of this thread - it’s speculation, and of course until they have a confirmed timeline HBO isn’t going to suddenly announce that they’ll be launching the service globally :roll_eyes:

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Ellen is very overrated

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