HBO Max Launches Next Week with 'Game of Thrones,' 'Friends'
by EG
You'll finally be able to stream Friends again next week when HBO Max launches. The service will also offer Game of Thrones, DC Universe movies, and more. But will it be enough to convince viewers to shell out yet another $15 a month for yet another streaming subscription? Time will tell. Read on for details.
WarnerMedia may have shelled out more than $400 million to bring Friends to forthcoming streamer HBO Max, but the sitcom classic may not be the service’s big draw.
It’s the HBO library that has Americans most excited about signing up for the $15-per-month offering, according to a new Hollywood Reporter/Morning Consult poll. In a survey of 2,200 nationally representative adults conducted May 14-17, 34 percent of respondents said they were more likely to subscribe to HBO Max because it includes TV shows and movies from HBO.
The Warner Bros. TV and movie library — which encompasses all 10 seasons of Friends — is also a lure, with 32 percent of respondents saying that they’re more likely to subscribe to HBO Max because of that programming. But among specific IP, the DC Extended Universe (26 percent) and Game of Thrones (23 percent) had more pull than Friends (21 percent). It’s no wonder WarnerMedia is paying $20 million to $30 million to bring Zack Snyder’s vision for Justice League to HBO Max in 2021.
Original programming will also be a key subscription driver for HBO Max, with 25 percent of respondents indicating that they would be more likely to subscribe to the service based on its mix of new TV shows.
So far, WarnerMedia has largely focused its HBO Max marketing on the breadth of the content offering, with an ad campaign that uses the slogan, “Where HBO meets so much more.” But there is also value in promoting inpidual properties. Just 13 percent of people correctly identified Friends as part of HBO Max’s content lineup, for instance, though a planned Friends reunion special could help boost awareness around the show’s new home. (Notably, 6 percent of those polled said they cancelled or plan to cancel their Netflix subscription now that Ross, Rachel, Chandler, Monica, Phoebe and Joey are no longer on the service.)
HBO Max launches on May 27 but overall interest in the service has not changed since a previous Hollywood Reporter/Morning Consult poll conducted in in late March. Among those polled, 5 percent said they would be very likely to subscribe and 11 percent said they would be somewhat likely. The interest improved by 3 points, however, after HBO Max’s content offering and price point was explained.
Get the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.
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