Cheaper HBO Max ads tier is now available

Update, June 2, 2021 (10:11 a.m. ET): Warner Media confirmed in a press release today that it has now launched its lower-priced subscription tier for HBO Max. It costs $ 9.99 per month and is supported by ads. The more expensive ad-free subscription tier for $ 14.99 per month is also still available. As previously announced, the lower tier will not give its subscribers immediate access to Warner Bros. 2021 cinema programming. Subscribers to the $ 14.99 per month plan will be able to watch these movies, including The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, from that Friday, the day and day they hit theaters.

Warner Media says the ads for the HBO Max plan for $ 9.99 a month won’t exceed four minutes an hour. No ads at all will be displayed during HBO original movies and TV shows. Also, these users cannot download the service’s movies and TV shows for offline viewing on iOS and Android devices. Finally, streaming video quality is limited to a resolution of 1080p.

Warner Media also announced that users can now sign up for annual subscriptions to HBO Max. Pricing is $ 99.99 for the ad-based plan and $ 149.99 for the ad-free plan.

Original article, March 12, 2021 (10:53 a.m. ET): HBO Max is one of the most popular streaming services in the US. However, it’s also one of the most expensive, and costs $ 15 a month. That’s almost double a Netflix basic plan or a standard Disney Plus subscription.

However, in June 2021, a new HBO Max ad-supported tier will be retired. This tier will be cheaper than the $ 15 tier, which should allow more budget-conscious streaming fans to afford it.

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Unfortunately, AT&T – the parent company of HBO – didn’t want to disclose how much this tier would cost (although anonymous sources included CNBC $ 9.99 suggested). It also didn’t reveal how the ads would affect your viewing experience. Will there be pre-roll and mid-roll ads? How long will the ads be? Will the ad-free tier have access to the same content as current subscribers? These answers are currently unknown.

However, we can assume that this means current subscribers can sit comfortably and know that they won’t be seeing any ads on their HBO Max ad anytime soon. Obviously, current subscribers could downgrade their subscriptions to save money and deal with ads, but the existence of an ad-supported tier almost guarantees that there will still be an ad-free tier.

We’ll have to wait until June to get all the information on HBO Max’s ad-supported pricing tier. Stay tuned!