HBO Max Is On An Independence Spree As It Leaves Prime Video Channels

HBO Max is gaining independence and breaking free from its old streaming channels. It is no longer available through Amazon Prime Video Channels.

The channel’s landing page instead shows an error and reads, ‘This page is temporarily unavailable. We apologize for the inconvenience and ask that you try again later.’ The departure was announced in November 2020 but wasn’t implemented until now.

Although it isn’t as devastating as it sounds, Fire TV users still have access to HBO Max, and if you have HBO through Prime Video, you can still access your HBO Max titles by signing in with your Prime Video credentials. New subscribers can create a new subscription directly through the HBO Max app.

This comes just two weeks after HBO removed its channel from Apple TV Channels, notifying subscribers that they would need to switch to HBO Max to continue watching HBO’s original content.

Last year, Amazon revealed that 5 million HBO subscribers received the service through Prime Video Channels. As part of a deal after a six-month stalemate, WarnerMedia extended their Amazon Web Services (AWS) contract in order to get HBO Max on Fire TV.

HBO kept its content available as a Prime Video channel, although you needed to log into HBO Max to see any of their exclusives. It has been reported that Amazon keeps 30% of subscription revenue every month, which makes it expensive for HBO to have Prime Video as a distributing channel.

Till May 2020, Prime Video subscribers had free access to classic HBO shows without having an HBO Max subscription. The shows included The Sopranos, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Veep, Sex and the City, and The Wire, before they disappeared.

HBO Max recently rolled out a new sampling strategy and introduced their new Snap Mini free episodes feature on Snapchat. Besides that, Chromecast with Google TV also launched its new bundle offer with three months of HBO Max ad-free plan at the cost of $65.

HBO Max costs $9.99/month with ads or $14.99/month without ads. The app is available on Android TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, LG Smart TVs, Roku, Samsung Smart TVs, PlayStation 4 & 5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, iOS and Android, and on the web.

About HBO Max

HBO Max is an American subscription video-on-demand streaming service owned by AT&T via the WarnerMedia Direct subsidiary of WarnerMedia and was launched on May 27, 2020, in the United States.

While built around content from namesake premium television service HBO, it principally serves as a content hub for WarnerMedia’s various film and television properties, offering a range of original programming and library content from the company as well as additional content licensed through third-party distributors.

Source: The Streamable