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Hopefully, this new merger results in a better HBO Max app experience.
Spotted on The Verge, as a direct result of the pending merger between Discovery and WarnerMedia that will eventually close, the streaming apps the company apps use will also come together. That sounds good, BUT does that mean it will result in a better HBO Max app because keeping it 100, the HBO Max app in its current form stinks.
Discovery CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels announced the coming of the mega app during the Deutsche Bank 30th Annual Media, Internet, & Telecom Conference. The news of more streaming content available to subscribers is welcoming, but, of course, the immediate concern is will the app will get better? You can’t go a day without seeing someone complaining about using the HBO Max app and how buggy the experience is years after HBO Max’s release.
On numerous occasions, most recently during premieres of the latest episode of HBO’s original series Euphoria, the HBO Max has crashed for users trying to simulcast the show while it premieres on the cable network. The same happened during the polarizing Game of Thrones series finale.
Also, another thing people are more than likely concerned about is how much this new mega streaming app is going to cost. Per The Verge, we should expect a price hike.
If the new company opts to mash prices together as it mashes apps and content, then that would mean a service going for approximately $14.99 and $21.99 a month. Netflix, for reference, ranges in price from $9.99 to $19.99 a month depending on the number of screens and quality of streams. Netflix also has the best-looking app in the streaming business with an algorithm that suggests content one would actually want to watch. The DiscoHBO app will need more than the next season of Euphoria if it wants to charge more than $20.
Honestly, despite the bugs, people are still sticking with HBO Max, mainly because the service doesn’t miss when it comes to bringing the HBO original series, docs, and blockbuster films via the Warner Bros. deal to televisions and smartphones. We don’t think subscribers will be too upset about the impending price hike.
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