Max subscription prices might increase yet again according to a new report. Max, formerly HBO Max is home to a lot of original content, as well as HBO Originals that air simultaneously on Max and on HBO. Like other streaming services, such as Netflix, it has various plans that subscribers can choose from and apps are available across Android, consoles, smart TVs, and the web.
The least expensive ad-free plan is currently sitting at $16 a month. The price can go up to $20 a month if you want additional devices to be allowed to stream at the same time, and you also get 4K streaming. These prices also follow a price bump that happened in 2023. When Warner Bros. Discovery increased the monthly cost of the ad-free plan by $1, taking it from $15 to $16.
This price increase wasn’t a lot. It also makes a little more sense as to why Warner Bros. Discovery might want to increase the prices of Max again. Because the initial increase was small. As Engadget notes, the company has a target of $1 billion in earnings for Max and Discovery+ next year. A price increase could help it reach that goal.
Max prices might increase, but it’s unclear by how much
The last price increase may have been small, but that might not be the case this time. It’s currently unclear what the amount of a price increase could be. Bloomberg originally reported the potential for a price increase, but it doesn’t say anything about how much the monthly cost could go up to.
However, it might not be long before subscribers find out. Warner Bros. Discovery is set to have its latest earnings call on Thursday, May 9. So there’s a good chance it could talk about a price increase at that time.
Following in Netflix’s footsteps
Warner Bros. Discovery may or may not talk about the reasons for a price hike if one is indeed coming. That being said, Max is seemingly following in Netflix’s footsteps at least in terms of the cadence of price increases. Netflix upped subscription fees back in January of 2022, and it raised them again in October of 2023. Netflix may even raise prices again in 2024.
Max raised its prices back in January of 2023, and it could be doing so again soon. Making the gap between price hikes at least a year to a year and a half. Hopefully for Max subscribers, the monthly cost won’t go up by much.
