Here’s Why HBO Max Isn’t Available on Roku

HBO Max has officially launched in the United States, adding yet another layer of competition to the already crowded streaming wars, but it arrives without one major ally. Unlike its biggest competitors, HBO Max doesn’t have the help of Roku, one of the most popular streaming devices out there. Within hours of launch, new HBO Max subscribers had already noticed that the service isn’t available on the Roku channel store, or on any Roku devices. That may seem strange, given how many people use Roku as their preferred way of streaming at home, but it’s all in the contracts.

While WarnerMedia has been in negotiations with Roku about a deal to get the new HBO Max app on devices, nothing has been finalized at this time. Until a deal between the two sides is complete, users on Roku won’t have access to HBO Max, they’ll have to watch it on their mobile device or computer.

Details regarding the proposed deal and its hang-ups haven’t been revealed, but it would stand to reason that WarnerMedia and Roku are still working hard on getting something together. As popular as Roku is, not having the app on those devices will seriously hurt HBO Max’s growth.

“We are focused on entering into win-win distribution agreements with all new OTT services aspart of their launch strategies,” Roku said in a statement. “While we don’t typically comment on specific deal terms or negotiations, the fact is that in this instance we believe that HBO Max would benefit greatly from distribution on Roku at launch, we do not currently have a deal in place.”

That’s not to say that there can’t be a deal struck between the two sides at any point in the future. In fact, WarnerMedia and Comcast reached an agreement on HBO Max on Wednesday morning, hours after the new service had already been made available to the public. This is a good sign that WarnerMedia is still doing what it can to get HBO Max on as many platforms as possible.

In addition to Roku, HBO Max is also missing from Amazon Fire devices, and that deal will likely be more difficult to hammer out than the one with Roku, considering Amazon has its own streaming service.

Have you tried out HBO Max yet? Are you waiting for it to become available on Roku? Let us know in the comments!