HBO Max With Ads Debuts Today, Featuring More Than 35 Brands

HBO Max’s ad-supported tier officially rolls out today, marking WarnerMedia’s entrance into the fast-growing ad-supported streaming space. The ad-supported tier, called HBO Max With Ads, will cost new subscribers $9.99 a month, and will come with a maximum of four minutes of commercial time per hour—the lightest ad-load among the ad-supported streaming services, and less than the five minutes of ads per hour from both NBCUniversal streamer Peacock and from Discovery streamer Discovery+. And all originals from HBO, which has long run ad-free on premium cable and on streaming, will continue to run without advertising. More than 35 brands across all major categories are slated to go live on HBO Max this month with 72 pieces of creative, including an insurance brand and an auto brand that are leaning in to the streamer’s Brand Block ad format, in which an advertiser takes over a block of content that consumers can watch with limited commercials. In the coming months, HBO Max will roll out additional ad formats, including pause ads and an offering called branded discovery, in which a brand appears in recommended programming searches. Over time, the company says, subscribers to the ad-supported tier will see more ad personalization; the service also has frequency caps and other advertising guardrails in an effort to improve the viewing experience for consumers and help increase advertiser outcomes. HBO Max’s ad-supported tier has already secured $80 million in upfront commitments from advertisers during last year’s negotiation, and JP Colaco, WarnerMedia’s head of advertising sales, recently told Adweek that he is selling "the lion's share" of the next year's HBO Max ad inventory in the upfront. “Today we launch an innovative, best in class streaming ad experience,” Colaco said in a statement. “Thank you to the incredible brands who leaned forward on the importance of a consumer-centric ad experience that engages fans. Together with our valued partners we will continue to explore the art of what’s possible in video advertising across all platforms.” What content HBO Max With Ads does, and doesn't, have HBO Max’s ad-supported tier will come with almost all of the content available on HBO Max’s $15-a-month ad-free offering, including original series like the Friends reunion special, which debuted last Thursday, and HBO and HBO Max originals like the Kate Winslet-led Mare of Easttown miniseries, which released its finale episode on Sunday night. But it also has some content and feature exclusions. The ad-supported tier will not include new day-and-date film releases of Warner Bros.’ 2021 titles like In The Heights (which comes out June 11) and The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (which comes out June 4), although those titles will eventually make their way back to HBO Max as part of HBO’s output deal with Warner Bros. The tier also does not allow users to download programming for offline viewing, and the service will cap video quality at 1080p. (HBO Max’s ad-free tier offers high-definition viewing and offers some new theatrical releases at 4K.) HBO Max executives hope the ad-supported tier will allow cost-conscious consumers to come into the service at a lower price point, and may allow some consumers who have churned off the service to come back in. Marketing of the new tier will reflect that effort to win back prior consumers while also introducing the new, cheaper plan to a broader audience, Brad Wilson, WarnerMedia evp, growth and revenue, previously told Adweek. To make its price point more appealing and lock in subscribers for a years’ time, HBO Max will offer new and returning subscribers the option to prepay for an entire year of HBO Max With Ads for $99.99—saving nearly $20, or more than 15%. Customers can also shell out $149.99 for an entire year of HBO Max’s ad-free tier, for an annual savings of about $30. “Advertising is a time-tested way to reduce the cost of great entertainment and reach a wider audience,” Andy Forssell, HBO Max’s general manager, said in a statement. “We’ve worked hard to create an elegant, tasteful ad experience that is respectful of great storytelling for those users who choose it, and which we’re confident will deliver for our advertising partners as well.” WarnerMedia’s JP Colaco on Selling HBO Max With Ads and His First Upfront at the Company

TV Upfronts

HBO Max With Ads Debuts Today, Featuring More Than 35 Brands

Users will see no more than four minutes of advertising per hour

Kelsey Sutton

About

Subscriptions

Events

Publications

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Subscribe today!

Kelsey Sutton