Much as we would expect coming from the balloon heads running Warner Bros., not everything went as smoothly as planned when HBO Max came to market, specifically, what’s up with HBO Go?
It seems no one really planned on that boggle, seeing how Home Box Office had HBO TV, HBO Now, HBO On-Demand, and HBO Go. And now, we have HBO Max that was going to appear out of thin purple air on our TV sets.
Well, except for those of us who have those schmaltzy independent brands, Roku or Amazon. (Seriously?! Why is that not handled with AT&T yet?)
Now that the entertainment media has come down on the new purple people eater, HBO has made some major changes to its entertainment streaming system and collection of misfit apps.
HBO GO
Cable subscribers are familiar with HBO GO, which was essentially a way for paid TV subscribers to get any of HBO’s offerings “on-the-go.” You know? If you are jonesin’ for The Sopranos during a family picnic at the lake. If that’s your thing.
That app is now being cancelled — or, as AT&T likes to be gentle by calling that process “sunsetting” — as of July 31. No need to “go” to this app ever again since the HBO Max is “widely distributed,” according to Warner Media. Yeah, right.
HBO NOW
So, is this HBO Not Now? Unlike HBO GO, which was attached to the subscription pool, this was a standalone streamer for those who wanted HBO content but didn’t really want to pay for a huge cable package to get it. You could gain access to HBO Now for $14.99 per month if you were a tried-and-true cord cutter, like 10 million current subscribers. Sound familiar?
This will now simply be known as HBO.
If you don’t have Max, you can still have HBO content. The only difference is that you will not have access to the Warner Media content available on HBO Max. And if you are waiting for all those DC Movies you were promised, get HBO Max quickly because almost half of those are leaving too.
“Now that HBO Max has launched and is widely distributed, we can implement some significant changes to our app offering in the U.S. …We will be sunsetting our HBO Go service in the U.S.”
WarnerMedia spokesperson offered in a statement
If you think you can manage with HBO Max without HBO GO, like 47% of Americans are forced to do at this point, here’s what you will be missing:
HBO Max is a streaming platform that offers HBO programming, including its library of award-winning shows, and additional content from the Warner Bros. studio, New Line Cinema, DC, TBS and Cartoon Network, along with a handful of Max Originals. It has a bounty of old TV shows, including “Friends,” “The West Wing” and “The Big Bang Theory,” along with movies including the Harry Potter franchise, “Wonder Woman,” “Citizen Kane” and “A Streetcar Named Desire.” (source)
Make sense? Good. If you need me, I’ll be on Hulu or Netflix. This stuff gives me a headache.
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