The approved merger between Warner Media, owned by AT&T, and Discovery, on April 8 of this year in the United States, has generated uncertainty among consumers about the direction HBO Max will take.
The union of the entertainment giants will involve the combination of assets and the creation of a new brand that they have called on a pilot basis: Warner Bros. Discovery. The details of the integration of its catalogs are currently being refined, however, all these modifications that derive from the merger will take effect in Latin America next summer of 2023, which will imply that streaming could also not only adjust its catalog but also its rates.
HBO Max arrived in Latin America in June 2021 with an attractive proposal: those who contracted the service between June 29 and July 31 would have a 50% discount on their subscription permanently.
Streaming currently manages two plans: a mobile plan for 99 pesos, which allows users to access the platform through a smartphone or tablet, but only on one device at a time. Another is a standard package of 149 pesos, which allows you to use the subscription on one screen and on three devices at the same time and even configure five profiles.
In a previous interview, HBO Max told Expansión that the platform had decided so that its clients would not be forced to cancel their accounts in a context of high inflation.
Following the merger between Warner Media, owned by AT&T, and Discovery, the cost of subscription is one of the issues that most concerns consumers. Some have even commented on Twitter that the subscription contracted with “50% promotion for life” was canceled, both in Latin America and in Europe, although there is no certainty about the causes behind the alleged cancellations.
Víctor Manuel Frías, a partner at the Greenberg Traurig firm, explains that when there is a merger between companies, which can take one to two years to complete, the commitments adopted by each of the companies prior to this union must be fulfilled, it is That is to say, that the promotions that HBO Max launched in the Mexican market should be maintained, otherwise users can claim directly with the new company that derives from the process of pooling assets.
“(The user) can claim against the ‘merger’ because this company absorbs all the rights and commitments of the companies when they were without the union,” says Frías.
Expansión contacted HBO Max to find out its position on this issue, but the company did not comment on possible adjustments to its rates.
The streaming platform quickly gained traction thanks to its strategies like Home Theater , which allows subscribers to enjoy theatrical releases on its platform just 45 days after they are shown in theaters. Some of them have been King Kong vs. Godzilla; Spell 3: the devil made me do it; Batman, Spiderman: no way home and Elvis.
HBO Max is the third largest player in Mexico, after Netflix, which has 63.5% of the market, and Disney + with 21.6%, according to data from The Ciu consultancy.
