Q. Is there any hope that HBO Max will be on Roku and Fire TV anytime soon? I would like to subscribe and I would if it was on one of them. What are your thoughts? — Stella, Carson City, California.
Stella, since HBO Max launched on May 27, the streaming service has not been available on the nation’s two leading streaming devices, Roku and Amazon’s Fire TV. While the regular HBO is on both devices, HBO Max is not, and it’s obviously hurting AT&T’s effort to make the latter an industry leader. (HBO Max is an expanded version of the regular HBO with added programming from services such as Turner Classic Movies, Cartoon Network and Adult Swim.)
Jason Kilar, CEO of Warner Media, which oversees HBO Max for AT&T, was asked about the fee fight in an August interview with Bloomberg News. He suggested that Roku and Amazon will likely capitulate to their demands during the holiday season because they risk losing device sales to rivals such as Apple TV 4K. (Apple TV 4K does carry HBO Max.)
However, thanks to Amazon’s Prime Day sale, and the culture’s insistence on celebrating Christmas earlier every year, the holiday sales period is underway. And HBO Max is still not on Roku and Fire TV.
You could argue that AT&T could be close to a deal with either behind closed doors. But something AT&T CEO John Stankey said yesterday would suggest the gap between the companies has not narrowed.
Speaking to The Wall Street Journal’s Tech Live conference yesterday, Stankey blasted companies that are unfairly flexing their marketing muscle to create bottlenecks between programmers and their potential audiences. The executive did not name names, but it seems clear that he was talking about Roku and Amazon.
“Where the bottlenecks are sometimes occurring are in these commercial agreements,” Mr. Stankey said virtually at the event. “We should ask ourselves, is that friction somebody really feeling their oats and maybe having market power above and beyond what’s reasonable for innovation?”
Stankey is a industry veteran who’s known for choosing his words carefully. He likely would not fire the proverbial shot across the bow at Roku and Amazon during a major financial conference if he thought a deal was close. Stankey wanted to send a message, and hopefully, increase pressure on the two device makers to get on board.
So, Stella, I don’t foresee an imminent deal between HBO Max and Amazon and Roku.
Happy viewing, and stay safe!
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— Phillip Swann
Featured image: Hugh Grant and Nicole Kidman in The Undoing, coming to HBO and HBO Max this Sunday.
ATT again showing its lack of understanding regarding consumer desires. While I added HBO during quarantine I thought it was overpriced then, and even more so when I learned that much of its content couldn’t play on my Roku equipped TVs. I decided that there was (barely) enough content to let me keep it until the holidays, in expectation of a Roku deal. But if there isn’t one, I will just proceed to cancel my HBO, not change my equipment..
We got around the Roku/Amazon HBO Max kerfuffle by purchasing a Chromecast with Google TV for $50. You can also purchase a Mi Box (Android TV) for the same price. I applaud Roku and Amazon for sticking to their laurels and teaching AT&T that “times are a changing”. Their terrible customer service, wallet torching tactics (2 year contract for AT&T TV?) and poor investment decisions ($49 billion for a dying DirectTV) will eventually force them to make major adjustments to their plans. Technology seems to eventually make the old fogies with legacy business models wake up and smell the reality. Streaming is the new delivery system which includes mass amounts of free and/or lower cost content. Accept it or die.
Just another AT&T failure. How do you launch a major streaming video product without two of the biggest players in place. In addition some older smart TV’s cannot access HBO Max and can just get HBO Now. They destroyed DirecTV to the point that they need to unload it and have so…many different streaming products that it is confusing to the average consumer and now one of their best products seriously lacks providers.