Community discussions

[Iona-D]

Another possibility soon to become reality?  Let's hope not!

https://www.tomsguide.com/news/hbo-max-could-be-dead-discovery-plus-rumored-to-take-over

If this becomes truth in the near future it will not be so good for the paying slobs of the subscription variety:

"......This would basically force loyal HBO Max subscribers to buy into a new (likely more expensive) streaming service to keep getting access to the shows and movies they like, while possibly getting less of that content they prefer......."

Either way the paying public will always lose out in the end.

[Iona-D]

The only Plus I want on my subscription plate is the Paramount variety.  Too much juggling going on.

Another update:

HBO Max's death may be exaggerated — Discovery Plus merger coming summer 2023

".......A slide for a Global Product showed large HBO Max and Discovery Plus logos, with bullets underneath declaring they will live under a "single global brand." Interestingly enough, the service will have both "On demand & live" capabilities, as well as "Ad-free, Ad-lite and ad-only options." There will be multiple tiers, which apparently will add sports......."-https://www.tomsguide.com/news/hbo-max-could-be-dead-discovery-plus-rumored-to-take-over

[atc98092]

As long as my AT&T cell plan offers it with whatever name they put on it, I don't care what they call it. If it's not, then I won't bother with them at all. I tried CBS All Access (which they renamed to Paramount+), and realized that other than a couple of shows I never watched it. Same with HBO Max. There's not enough content that I am willing to pay for. I have Prime Video as part of my Amazon Prime, so don't pay anything extra there. We spend 95+% of our time watching media from our own media server, and since it's running on a computer I had anyway, all I've paid for is some additional hard drives.

These streaming services need to realize that just having a large library is meaningless if they price themselves beyond what most are willing to pay. Streaming was supposed to be a less costly way to watch what you want. They are quickly losing that, and if a user needs to spend $75 per month for a bunch of different services, cable/satellite will start looking much simpler and perhaps even less costly. And the cable/sat companies are offering streaming services as well, so much of the on demand content can still be seen. Never thought I'd ever say that. 

[Portalogem]

Well, things could start getting nightmarish when DC movies coming to HBOmax like "Batgirl" and sequels like "Scoob!: Holiday Haunt" are suddenly axed, but until then, I wouldn't lose sleep over it. Oh, wait...

[Iona-D]

I will agree on the not losing sleep over this issue.  It will still happen next year depending on where you are in the world no matter what.

The concern here is the Streaming Market is now way over saturated with way too many apps and options.  Plus tack on price increases due to anything from hyper  inflation to transfering the cost of mergers to the user. There will be trouble in the Streaming World with this new reality no matter who you are.  Remember the lost options/apps discussed here and elsewhere over the years?  I cannot name them offhand since there were so many of them and they no longer exist at all or vastly changed and not accessible anyway for the most part at least in my case.

I just hope that people will not start to move on from streaming like they did with cable/satellite services.  What happened to just  mindlessly vegging out in front of your television after a long hard day?  Without getting involved with unnecessary drama caused by things beyond the consumer's control?

[Iona-D]

Another Update'

Here's when HBO Max and Discovery Plus will become one streaming platform

Timeline of the new combined streaming service's debut worldwide.

https://www.androidcentral.com/streaming-tv/hbo-max-and-discovery-plus-to-merge-by-summer-2023

Divorced From Reality With Another Upgrade To An App That Might Not Be Here In It's Present Form This Time Next Year In The US?:

https://www.techradar.com/news/hbo-max-just-got-its-biggest-update-in-months-but-why-now

Insane business practice or what?

[andyross]

You can also keep an eye on this thread I started on another site to keep track of what is going on. One latest post is that up to 70% of employees could lose their jobs.

https://www.avsforum.com/threads/hbo-max-and-discovery-merger-info.3250718/ 

[Iona-D]

Thank You!