Beefed-up WarnerMedia unveils HBO Max streaming service

BURBANK, California — WarnerMedia executives took the stage on Tuesday to formally introduce the streaming service HBO Max, the future exclusive online home for “Game of Thrones,” “Friends,” “The Big Bang Theory,” the Harry Potter films and movies centered on DC Comics superheroes like Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman.

The big reveal, which came two hours into the event, was the cost of HBO Max: $15 a month.

That price puts the service at the top of the market. Netflix’s standard plan costs $13 a month. Apple charges $5 for Apple TV Plus, which will become available Friday. Disney Plus, the service from the Walt Disney Co. scheduled to start on Nov. 12, will charge $7. WarnerMedia was already charging $15 for HBO Now, a streaming service with content from HBO.

AT&T became the owner of HBO, CNN, Turner Broadcasting and the Warner Bros. television and film studio last year, with its $85.4 billion acquisition of Time Warner. With that deal, the company became a telecommunications and entertainment behemoth.

Longtime AT&T executive John Stankey became the head of the entertainment unit, WarnerMedia, which will provide HBO Max with the content it needs to compete in the streaming universe.

At the presentation, held at the Warner Bros. studio lot, the main architects of WarnerMedia offered details on the service, which will be available in May.

Kevin Reilly, the WarnerMedia chief content officer, said HBO Max would offer its original shows in HBO-style — that is, weekly. “Our creators see the difference of rolling out shows gradually and letting them breathe,” he said. Netflix, the leading streaming service, releases its series all at once.

AT&T has said it aims to reach about 80 million global subscribers for HBO Max by 2025, with 50 million coming from the United States. HBO has 35 million subscriptions, with 9 million paying for the direct-to-consumer offering HBO Now. By contrast, Disney said it expected have 60 million to 90 million Disney Plus subscribers by 2024, and Netflix’s subscriber base stands at 158 million.

HBO Max will offer some 10,000 hours of programming to start. On Tuesday, the company announced a 10-episode sci-fi series, “Raised By Wolves,” from director Ridley Scott.

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