Summary
- Max is hiking prices for new subscribers to their Ad-Free and Ultimate Ad-Free tiers.
- The price increase is effective immediately, with current users notified 30 days in advance.
- Warner Bros. Discovery aims to invest in more culture-defining content with the price hike.
Ahead of the premiere of House of the Dragon Season 2, Max is hiking prices yet again, this time effective immediately. New subscribers to the streaming services Ad-Free tier will now have to pay an additional $1/month, making the total cost $16.99/month. The Ultimate Ad-Free tier will also see a $1 increase, going from $19.99/month to $20.99/month. Yearly subscriptions will also see a hike, with the Ad-Free tier now costing $20 extra at $169.99/year, and the Ultimate Ad-Free tier raising its price by $10 to $209.99/year.
As per Variety, the price increase is effective immediately for new subscribers, while current users will be notified 30-days in advance of their subscription expiration date, with new prices taking effect from their next billing cycle on or after Thursday, July 4, 2024. Max’s ad-supported tier will remain intact, staying at $9.99/month or $99.99/year. The price increases are supposedly an effort to “accelerate the streamer’s profitability — and also encourage more price-sensitive consumers to sign up for the ad-supported plan.”
Every Movie Coming to Max in June 2024
Max is expanding their list of classic movies in June.
In a letter sent out to subscribers, Warner Bros. Discovery touted Max’s current crop of shows like House of the Dragon, as well as the upcoming release of The Penguin, saying that the price increase will allow them to “continue to invest in delivering more culture-defining programming.” It also made mention of the streamers’ live sports offerings, which include NBA, MLB, and NHL games.
“Max is the one to watch for iconic series, hit movies, fresh originals, family favorites, breaking news, and live sports, and this increase allows us to continue to invest in delivering more culture-defining programming
and improving our customer experience for all users
.”
The Max Price Increase Was to Be Expected
While the Max price increase might come as a shock to some, those with an ear to the ground already knew this change was coming. In September 2023, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav made mention during the Goldman Sachs Communication and Technology conference that the combination of content across Max and Discovery+ was enough to justify a bump in cost. While there was no official date given for such an increase, Zaslav said that in the past when Max had raised its prices, the loss to WBD had been “very minimal.”
“We think that there’s meaningful opportunity as we add quality content to Max and as we launch it around the world to move on price. We think that the value that we’re creating and the amount of value we’re creating that we can get more price.
When we have risen prices, we haven’t found any — we found that the loss to us has been very minimal
.”
Max isn’t the only streaming service that will be raising its prices. Subscribers to Paramount+ can also expect an increase in the near future, as Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish stated bluntly at that same conference that they plan for a price hike either in 2024 or 2025.
“
Our plan is to raise prices
. Whether we do that in ‘25 or we do that in ‘24, we’ll see. Again, early days as we evaluate the, call it, impact of the price increase, but we believe there’s a lot of room to run there.”
Every TV Series Coming to Paramount+ in June 2024
With plenty of returning favorites, the streaming service is a must-have this summer.
Netflix and Disney+ both raised prices last year, as did Prime Video. With original programming continuing to grow across all streaming platforms, users can expect their prices to increase even further over time, making the days of cable television seem not so bad to some. Check out Max’s three different subscription tiers below, and how they differ from one another.
|
With Ads |
Ad-Free |
Ultimate Ad-Free |
|
Stream on two devices at once. Full HD video resolution |
Stream on two devices at once. Full HD video resolution. 30 downloads to watch on the go. |
Stream on four devices at once. 4K Ultra HD video quality as available. Dolby Atmos immersive audio as available. 100 downloads to watch on the go (limits apply). |
House of the Dragon
Taking place about 172 years before the events of Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon tells the tale of the rise of the Targaryens, the only family of dragonlords to survive the Doom of Valyria. The popular HBO spinoff show first starred Milly Alcock and Emily Carey as Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower before they were replaced by Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke, who play the older versions of the characters. Also starring in the series is Matt Smith (Prince Daemon Targaryen) and Paddy Considine as Rhaenyra’s father, King Viserys Targaryen.
- Release Date
- August 21, 2021
- Seasons
- 2
