HBO Max, Out in May, Will Cost More Than Netflix

BURBANK, Calif. — WarnerMedia executives took the stage on Tuesday to formally introduce the streaming service HBO Max, the future exclusive online home for “Game of Thrones,” “Friends,” “The Big Bang Theory,” the Harry Potter films and movies centered on DC Comics superheroes like Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman.

The big reveal, which came two hours into the event, was the cost of HBO Max: $15 a month.

That price puts the service at the top of the market. Netflix’s standard plan costs $13 a month. Apple charges $5 for Apple TV Plus, which will become available Friday. Disney Plus, the service from the Walt Disney Company scheduled to start Nov. 12, will charge $7. WarnerMedia was already charging $15 for HBO Now, a streaming service with content from HBO.

[Netflix goes all out to wow children.]

AT&T became the owner of HBO, CNN, Turner Broadcasting and the Warner Bros. television and film studio last year with its $85.4 billion acquisition of Time Warner. That deal changed the identity of AT&T, turning a telecommunications giant into a telecommunications-news-and-entertainment behemoth.

The longtime AT&T executive John Stankey became the head of the entertainment unit, which was named WarnerMedia. It will provide HBO Max with the content it needs to compete in the crowded streaming universe.

At the presentation, held at the Warner Bros. studio lot, the main architects of WarnerMedia offered details on HBO Max, which will be available in May.

HBO Max will offer some 10,000 hours of programming to start, much of which has been announced in recent months. One show that will not make it to HBO Max is a previously announced “Game of Thrones” prequel starring Naomi Watts. HBO said on Tuesday that the show had been scrapped.