In a press release, Warner Bros. Discovery has finally announced when its HBO Max transmission service will be launched in Australia, and it is long before it could have imagined.
Max will come to Australia on March 31, putting it inside the “First half of next year” stadium provided by WBD in September.
This means that Max will be the first call to see the second season of The last of us – which will debut exclusively at the streamer on April 14, as well as other next programs such as He: Welcome to Derry and A gentleman of the seven kingdoms, that develops in the world of game of Thrones.
Max will be launched with a range of subscription levels, including Premium, Standard and an option with advertisements. How much these levels will not have been revealed.
Together with Max, WBD and Foxtel they also announced the turn of a new page in their association. This new chapter will see Foxtel’s subscribers with IQ3, IQ4 or IQ5 devices connected to the Internet will get access to the basic plan with ADS Max for free. It is not yet known how Foxtel now subscriptions will influence the equation.
Warner Bros. Discovery declared last year that he wanted to expand his relationship with Foxtel with the direct space to the consumer, and this agreement makes that.
Michael Brooks, general manager of WBD Australia and New Zealand, declared: “WBD has a long history in Australia, and we know our world class content of HBO, Warner Bros., Discovery and more is incredibly popular among the public here.
“We have a clear strategy to maximize the scope through our direct application to the consumer and distribution associations, and our collaboration with Foxtel at launch is a testimony of that. We cannot wait for fans of the whole country to experience Max” .
So what does this mean for binge?
There is still no official statement about what Max’s arrival means, the current home of HBO content in Australia, but there is a key element of this news that leads us to believe that it might not be brilliant.
Based on the use of the term “debut exclusively” when it refers to the next second season of The last of usIt is clear that the future seasons of the last of us will only be available in Max in the future, not in binge.
The last of us Season 2 will be HBO’s first launch to arrive after Max’s local launch, and if it does not land, then it is relatively safe to assume that future HBO programs will not. It is not necessary to say that this would be a giant blow for what is currently one of the best transmission services in Australia.
Of course, bingers is not just HBO’s home in Australia, with programs such as Colin of accounts and Mr. Inbetween Also available to transmit, but they are far from being the greatest attraction of the service. Two of the best programs currently transmitting in Australia – The Pitt and The white lotus – Both are HBO series, which debut weekly in binge.
Without a new HBO content, it is difficult to know how Binge will continue to compete with people such as Disney Plus, Stan, Prime Video and Netflix. And, it is even more difficult to defend its premium price label of $ 22p/m.
We may see an innovative price reduction after a series of price increases in Australian streamers. We may see more combine with Foxtel itself. Or maybe binge will change their march and will be associated with another large production company.
Whatever the case, it will be an interesting in the coming months. And, if you are looking to update The last of us Before its second season, Binge is still the only place to do so.