While Disney+ launched last month, WarnerMedia is prepping for the launch of its own streaming service, HBO Max, in May 2020.   As during the UBS Global TMT Conference, John Stankey, who is the President and Chief Operating Officer of AT&T spoke about HBO MAX.  Saying that HBO Max will be priced at $14.99 and that it will offer double the content of Disney+, so charging twice the price makes sense.

“Disney was kind of like about half of the content of what we have at half the price. I was listening to feedback after the investor day and there’s a continuum. There are some who have said, ‘too cheap,’ some who have said ‘just right’ and some who said ‘too expensive.’ That tells me we probably found a good place to start.”

He also talked about Disney+ offering “a good product, they have done a nice job,” but its strongest appeal is to younger audiences, meaning “it’s not that deep,” while HBO Max wants to go broader to target the whole family.

“We’re making sure that there’s a good, stable offering for the late teens and twenty-something”

There has been a lot of discussion about these streaming services replacing Netflix, with the HBO chief saying:

“You would be hard pressed to suggest that Disney+ is a replacement service for Netflix. … You would be hard pressed to say Disney+ is a replacement service for Max. They are two different services and they are addressing different market segments.”

This is one reason why Disney has its triple bundle with Hulu and ESPN+, to offer a wide selection of content, but still below HBO Max’s price.  HBO Max will offer a wide selection of different brands including Warner Brothers, Teeth, DC, Boomerang, Adult Swim, in addition to HBO content.   HBO Max will also include some content from 20th Century Fox for a short period until their deal expires in 2022.  It will also include Studio Ghibli movies, which had previously been released by Disney.

Would you rather pay more for more content, or have the cheaper options like Disney+ ?

Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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