Warner Bros has launched themselves into the streaming arena with their own channel of HBO Max. The streaming channel offers everything from Turner Classic Movie selections to the latest in Adult Swim comedies. But for being a streaming channel that also holds the exclusive access to movies and TV series from HBO, there’s been a bit of confusion about what this means for HBO’s other applications of HBO Now and HBO Go. Well, here’s the deal on how these services differ from one another.
HBO Now
Prior to HBO Max, if you wanted to watch HBO programming without a cable subscription, one could do so through HBO Now. This was more or less the beta for HBO Max and had to come about quickly since the likes of Game of Thrones didn’t have an ease of online access to the content, leading to piracy. Differing from HBO Max, HBO Now only hosts HBO exclusive content. This meant one could watch fantasy shows like Game of Thrones and Westworld, but if they desired a wider selection of Warner Bros’ library they’d have to venture elsewhere. Considering HBO Now costs about the same as HBO Max, it’s likely that it’ll be phased out considering that subscribers are getting far less than HBO Max.
HBO Go
HBO Go was for those who already had a cable subscription and wanted to have the same on-demand access as streaming users. The price was technically free considering it a customer who was already paying for the cable package wouldn’t have to pay an additional fee to watch HBO programming whenever they felt like it on their streaming devices. This was more or less best suited for those who were already paying for premium cable packages. Since HBO Now will be grandfathered into HBO Max, HBO Go will essentially be doing the same thing.
HBO Max
The HBO Max streaming platform is essentially just HBO Now with an expanded range of content, hence the Max in the title. It costs the same as HBO Now but also offers content from Warner Bros’ extended library of movies and television. This ranges from Cartoon Network kid shows (Adventure Time, The Amazing World of Gumball) to DC Comics films (Justice League, Joker) to classics from the Warner archives (Casablanca, Gone with the Wind). And this isn’t even taking into account the original shows and movies that are coming soon. Basically, HBO is upgrading so customers will be able to get the most out of their money than just HBO shows.
