HBO Max is my new favourite streaming service – it's just a shame it could be dead within a year
It might have only just launched in the UK, but the future of HBO Max is looking uncertain
Quick Summary
HBO Max launched in the UK earlier this year, but if the Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery merger is approved, there's a danger that it could be combined with Paramount+.
That could even come in the next 12 months.
There was a lot of hype and excitement around the launch of HBO Max in the UK, and for good reason. Having been a major player in the US and several other regions for years, the streaming service arrived in Britain with a bang.
Home to the likes of The White Lotus, House of the Dragon, The Last of Us, and plenty of archive series that are on the essential list, HBO Max has a catalogue of pure hits. And that's not including the movies – Superman, One Battle After Another, and Sinners are just the tip of the iceberg.
And, of course, it's completely free with Sky.
Indeed, with this much quality content and a platform that even includes TNT Sports (in the UK), it has rapidly risen to be my current favourite streaming option. There's just one problem – longevity.
Sadly, if the proposed merger between Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount is approved, it seems like HBO Max will be gone. Or at least, it'll be squished together with Paramount+ going forward. And what that means for subscribers is not yet clear.
According to Variety, Paramount's chief legal officer, Makan Delrahim, has argued that the only way for both HBO Max and Paramount+ to survive is to merge them into one streaming service. Whether that would keep either name or be something new is yet to be determined, but it does mean one of them is destined to be absorbed by the other.
What this would mean for global licensing deals – such as the one WBD currently has with Sky – is unclear, but it could result in HBO Max disappearing again just as it's getting started.
Both of the platforms "lack the scale to compete effectively against the leading SVODs," wrote Delrahim in a letter to the Attorney General in California to argue the case for the merger.
"Absent something transformative, neither party is positioned to grow to a scale where they would catch up to the leading streamers."
The argument is that only a combined service could compete with Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video.
As things stand, Paramount+ and HBO Max share 10.8% of the overall streaming market in the US. Amazon has 15.3%, Disney 16.7%, and Netflix is way out in the lead with 32.5%.
Hopefully, if approved, this would result in a service with all of the shows and movies we enjoy across HBO Max and Paramount+, but for a single monthly fee. So it could benefit our pockets.
Still, it's worrying that just as I've found a new favourite, it might be gone again in a matter of months.
