Warner Bros Discovery has made its move, officially launching the highly anticipated Max streaming service on Tuesday, May 23.
The new service is the result of a merger between AT&T's WarnerMedia and Discovery, forming the entertainment giant Warner Bros Discovery.
Max, an amalgamation of HBO Max and Discovery Plus, offers subscribers a catalog of content with improved video playback, an advanced recommendation system, and personalized features.
The new service introduces some changes to pricing and features. While the base plans remain similar, with an "Ad-Lite" option for $9.99 per month and an "Ad-Free" option for $15.99 per month, 4K streaming is now exclusive to a higher tier called "Max Ultimate Ad Free," priced at $19.99 per month. Warner Bros Discovery has committed to releasing all future Warner Bros movies in 4K UHD on Max.
To generate excitement, the company has unveiled an array of upcoming TV shows, including a much-anticipated decade-long series expanding on JK Rowling's Harry Potter books with new storylines and a fresh cast.
While Max encompasses HBO Max content and a selection of Discovery favorites, Discovery Plus will continue to operate as a standalone streaming option, necessitating separate subscriptions for those who desire access to all content.
But the launch did not go as smoothly as David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros Discovery, would have hoped: the new service experienced a temporary setback on the morning of its big launch.
Reports of the outage emerged early Tuesday, with prominent news outlet ABC News among those unable to stream on Max. Downdetector, a reputable outage tracking site, confirmed the widespread technical difficulties.
The interruption, however, proved to be short-lived, andd Max appeared to be fully functional later in the morning.
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