HBO Max Leaves AT&T at Odds With Amazon and Roku
May 27 2020 - 2:56PM
Dow Jones News
By Joe Flint and Lillian Rizzo
HBO Max, AT&T Inc.'s newly launched streaming service, isn't
available on Amazon.com Inc.'s platforms as both companies remain
at loggerheads over where the content will reside and who will have
access to user data.
Amazon has about 5 million customers who bought access to HBO
through its Prime Video Channels platform but aren't able to access
HBO Max, which on Wednesday became available to all existing HBO
subscribers at no extra charge. Amazon Prime Video users who want
HBO Max would have to drop HBO from Prime Video Channels and
subscribe directly to the new service, which costs $14.99 a
month.
The HBO Max app also can't be installed on Amazon streaming
hardware such as the Fire TV Cube and Fire TV Stick.
"AT&T is choosing to deny these loyal HBO customers access
to the expanded catalog," Amazon said in a statement. "We believe
that if you're paying for HBO, you're entitled to the new
programming through the method you're already using. That's just
good customer service and that's a priority for us."
A spokesman for AT&T's WarnerMedia unit said Wednesday that
the company was looking forward "to reaching agreements with the
few outstanding distribution partners left, including with Amazon
and on par with how they provide customers access to Netflix,
Disney+ and Hulu on Fire devices."
HBO Max also has yet to reach a deal with Roku Inc., and wasn't
available to cable giant Comcast Corp.'s existing customers when it
launched. Comcast and WarnerMedia reached an agreement Wednesday
morning to give Xfinity cable customers access to HBO Max.
Clashes between streaming services are becoming increasingly
common, and in many ways are akin to the fights that traditional
cable networks often have with cable and satellite operators. Walt
Disney Co. and Amazon disagreed over terms regarding Disney+ only
to reach an accord in time for that service's launch last
November.
At the center of the dispute between Amazon and WarnerMedia is
that WarnerMedia wants Amazon to shuttle subscribers to the HBO Max
platform as it does with Netflix Inc. and Disney+ customers.
Amazon, however, wants to house the HBO Max content on Prime Videos
Channels as it currently does with HBO.
Essentially, AT&T wants Amazon to serve as a toll road to
HBO Max instead of providing housing for it. Such an arrangement
would make it easier for AT&T to track consumption habits and
other valuable data about its customers and establish a direct
relationship.
The row with Roku, a connected-television platform that serves
as a gateway to streaming services, is different. People familiar
with the matter said Roku was still in a standstill with HBO Max
over the terms of a carriage agreement.
Typically, Roku takes a cut of a service's subscription fees and
gets to sell ads in return for distribution. There are disputes on
both those fronts with HBO Max, which next year will introduce an
ad-supported version of the platform.
The standoff in negotiations between Comcast and HBO Max --
which was resolved Wednesday morning -- centered around increased
pricing for the streaming version of the premium channel, according
to people familiar with the matter.
Comcast, the nation's largest cable operator, with nearly 21
million video customers, was once one of HBO's biggest distributors
with roughly 50% penetration, a person familiar with the matter
said. Now, that number has dropped to less than 30% of Comcast
customers that subscribe to the service, the person added.
For Comcast, which is launching its own streaming service,
Peacock, in July, HBO Max now poses more of a threat as a
competitor than just an add-on to the cable bundle.
In some cases, distributors have been able to leverage
concessions from AT&T in return for agreeing to offer HBO Max.
Charter Communications Inc. finally landed a carriage deal on
AT&T's DirecTV for the Los Angeles Dodgers channel it
distributes for the team in return for an HBO Max pact, people
familiar with the situation said.
Other providers who have signed on to carry HBO Max include
Altice USA Inc., Cox Communications Inc. and Verizon's Fios TV.
Write to Joe Flint at joe.flint@wsj.com and Lillian Rizzo at
Lillian.Rizzo@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 27, 2020 14:41 ET (18:41 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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