HBO Max changes, Disney+ price hikes
This week on TechHive: HBO Max rings in the bean-counting era
The executives in charge of HBO Max would like everyone to know that the high times are over.
That’s the message I got, at least, from last week’s Warner Bros. Discovery earnings call, in which the company reaffirmed that it will merge HBO Max and Discovery+ into one streaming service next summer.
We’ve known since March that the merger would happen, but now we have a better sense of the details. And what stands out most to me is how Warner is ushering its flagship streaming service into a new age of austerity. That likely means longer waits to see the latest movies without having to buy or rent them, a shrunken movie and show selection as Warner shops out more content elsewhere, and fewer deals for new subscribers.
The only question now is whether other streaming services will follow as they try to finally profit from the huge audiences they’ve built up. Read the full column on TechHive.
In case you missed it: I wrote a big list of tips for the current HBO Max app last week. Enjoy while the app lasts in its current form.
Weekly rewind
Disney+ and Hulu price hikes: It turns out that Disney is not launching a cheaper, ad-supported version of Disney+ like we thought. Instead, it will use the forthcoming ad-supported tier as cover for a major price hike across all of its services. Take a deep breath, and read over the details:
Disney+ (effective December 8):
- With ads: $8 per month
- No ads: $11 per month or $110 per year (up from $8 per month or $80 per year)
Hulu (effective October 10):
- With ads: $8 per month or $80 per year (up from $7 per month)
- No ads: $15 per month (up from $13 per month)
ESPN+ (effective August 23, already announced):
- With ads: $10 per month or $100 per year (up from $7 per month or $70 per year)
The Disney bundle (effective December 8):
- Disney+ and Hulu with ads: $10 per month
- Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ with ads: $13 per month
- Disney+ and Hulu with no ads and ESPN+ with ads: $20 per month (same price as before)
- “Legacy” for existing subscribers: Disney+ (no ads), Hulu (with ads), and ESPN+ (with ads): $15 per month (up from $14 per month)
Hulu + Live TV (effective December 8):
- Basic: Includes Hulu, Disney+, and ESPN+ with ads for $70 per month
- “Legacy” for existing subscribers: Includes Disney+ (no ads), Hulu (with ads), and ESPN+ (with ads): $75 per month (up from $70 per month before)
- Premium: Includes Hulu (no ads) Disney+ (no ads), and ESPN+ (with ads) for $83 per month (up from $76 per month before).
The main takeaway here is that Disney really just wants you to bundle everything together, hence the major price hikes on all its individual services, and relatively modest hikes on the Disney bundle. It also ties nicely into the era of nickel and diming that I mentioned in this week’s column.
In any event, you’ve got some time to lock in Disney’s “Legacy” packages (which combine ad-free Disney+ with ad-laden Hulu and ESPN+), so plan accordingly if you’re committed to those services for the long haul.
TiVo’s TV OS: TiVo brand owner Xperi says it’s reached a deal to preload TiVo’s smart TV software on televisions from a unspecified brand, but it won’t be using Android TV like the TiVo Stream 4K dongle. Instead, TiVo plans to use its own Linux-based operating system, which means the app selection and user experience will almost surely be inferior.
That’s too bad, because the TiVo Stream 4K has made some great strides lately. It’s hard to see the Android-based platform getting much further investment if TiVo is shopping out its own operating system instead.
Vizio’s subscription store: Vizio has launched a service called “Vizio Account,” which will allow its smart TV users to buy and manage subscriptions from one place. The service currently supports Discovery+, Starz, and 10 other services.
It sounds like a great idea, provided you only plan to ever buy Vizio TVs and never plug any other streaming devices into them. Most folks should steer clear no matter how convenient it seems.
More catch-up
- Philo adds MeTV, Heroes & Icons, and Story Television channels to its lineup.
- YouTube TV drops Universo from its base package.
- Google Fiber is expanding to new markets after a six-year pause.
- Rumor mill: Walmart may bundle a streaming service with its Walmart+ membership program.
Save more money
If you have a Tablo over-the-air DVR or are thinking about getting one, now’s your last chance to lock in lifetime TV guide data and advanced DVR features, such as series-based recordings and out-of-home viewing. Those features will require a $5 per month or $50 per year subscription for new users after August 29, but for now you can get lifetime service for $180. (Note that Tablo’s HDMI models don’t offer lifetime service to begin with.)
Incidentally, Tablo’s also having a sale on refurbished DVRs, including the Tablo Dual Lite for $70 and the Tablo Quad for $120. (The former can play and record up to two antenna channels at a time, while the latter supports up to four.) Plug in a hard drive and antenna, and you can stream live or recorded TV to your TV devices, phones, tablets, and computers.
Also notable: Best Buy has the Nvidia Shield TV Pro for $170, which is $30 off the regular price. It’s a powerful streaming device with impressive 4K upscaling features, plus a pair of USB ports for connecting external hard drives and other accessories. It’s a neat option for the geekier cord cutters among us.
Lastly: I’ve just received word that the latest code for a free month of Paramount+ is ITALY. Redeem the promo code on the Paramount+ website, or read about how to redeem these codes—and never pay for Paramount+—in this previous TechHive story.
Thanks for reading!
Just a quick note that I’ll be taking next week off to recharge before fall gadget season gets underway. We’ll be back to the regular publishing schedule on Friday, August 26. In the meantime, feel free to send me your cord cutting questions and comments by replying to this email.
Until next week,
Jared