HBO Max Launch Deemed Lackluster by Analysts

Even though HBO Max is the newest streaming product on the market, a pair of leading industry analysts suggest the WarnerMedia-owned service launch is off to a rocky start. According to Michael Nathanson and Craig Moffett of MoffettNathanson, a combination of pricing and lack of content has attributed to a less-than-stellar launch for the platform, still very much in its infancy. In fact, Nathanson grades the launch a “C+,” calling it “chaotic with the mess of brandsthat they’ve got.”

The platform managed to negotiate for the streaming rights to the Harry Potter movies immediately prior to the service officially launching, although subscribers have to pay $14.99 for the cheapest package – the most expensive non-live streamer on the market. Coupled with that is the fact WarnerMedia has yet to get distribution deals in place with two major hardware providers – Roku and Amazon. As such, HBO Max is currently unavailable on Roku or Amazon Fire devices, with each brand scooping up a sizable slice of the market share pie.

As the analysts add, there’s then plenty of confusion surrounding HBO Max, HBO Go, and HBO Now as all three services still continue to exist. While the services like Go and Now will eventually cease to exist, they’re available and active for the foreseeable future, as HBO Max boss Bob Greenblatt said earlier this week.

“They will continue for a while. Look, if a customer just wants HBO and just wants to have nothing but that service we’re happy to still offer that to them. And I think before too long it will whittle down to HBO will always exist and then HBO Max will exist. And I think HBO will be the linear service and HBO Max will be a bundle of HBO and the rest of it. At first, we’re throttling some of these things down, but I don’t think it will be too long before it gets much more simple.”

While things might appear a bit stale at the moment, HBO Max will eventually be home to Zack Snyder’s Justice League at some point in the next year. “I want to thank HBO Max and Warner Brothers for this brave gesture of supporting artists and allowing their true visions to be realized. Also a special thank you to all of those involved in the SnyderCut movement for making this a reality,” Snyder said of the release.

Have you been using HBO Max a lot this week? If so, let us know your thoughts in the comments section!