If you’ve been holding our for a cheaper version of HBO Max, your chance has finally arrived. As promised, WarnerMedia launched an ad-supported version of HBO Max this week, allowing folks to spend a little less on the streaming service and still have access to its library. The new version of the service is $9.99 per month, $5 less than the current subscription, and requires users to watch a few ads during movies and TV shows.
The nice thing about this ad program, however, is that there won’t be a barrage of commercials during programming like there are on other ad-supported streaming services. In fact, HBO Max will have the most palatable ads option among all major streamers. Viewers will never see more than four minutes of ad content per hour of streaming content. So for every episode of Game of Thrones or Mare of Easttown you watch, you’ll see less than five minutes of commercials. That’s not bad at all.
If you sign up for the annual ad-supported plan, as opposed to the monthly plan, you’ll save even more money. One year of HBO Max With Ads (the official name) is $99.99, which essentially gives you two free months of the service.
There is a major downside to HBO Max With Ads, and it’s one that could be a deal-breaker for some people. HBO Max With Ads will not include the day-and-date Warner Bros. movie releases that have been so popular on HBO Max this year. This month’s new films In the Heights and The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It won’t be available on the ad-supported version of HBO Max. The same goes for Space Jam: A New Legacy and The Suicide Squad later this year. If it’s hitting theaters at the same time as HBO Max, you’ll have to go buy a ticket for the big screen or up your membership to the standard version. You will, however, still get HBO Max originals like The Friends Reunion and Zack Snyder’s Justice League.
The ad-supported version of HBO Max is undoubtedly a big deal for the streamer, and could bring good news to families everywhere hoping to save a little money on streaming.
Are you going to be checking out HBO Max With Ads? Let us know in the comments!