HBO Max Launch Set For May 27, More Content Unveiled

AT&T's WarnerMedia has announced the specific date for its launch of HBO Max -- May 27 -- and revealed more specifics about its content lineup.

The company had previously announced the launch month, but had not specified the date. 

WarnerMedia has pre-loaded the HBO Max app on the AT&T set-top box, and has expanded the categories of customers who will get the new streamer at no extra charge. HBO Now subscribers billed directly through HBO will get HBO Max access at no extra cost, and HBO subscribers through AT&T TV, DirecTV and U-verse, as well as partner Charter Communications, will be automatically upgraded to HBO Max. DirecTV Premier, the satellite TV brand's largest package, will also include HBO Max, as will select AT&T wireless, video and internet plans, including the Internet 1000 residential internet plan. Non-AT&T customers will pay $14.95 for HBO Max.

WarnerMedia again confirmed that it will also launch an ad-supported version of HBO Max after the SVOD's launch, but has still not said whether it will move that launch up from its originally planned 2021 debut.

HBO Max will launch with 10,000 hours of content, including all of HBO's content and 1,800 movie titles in its library. It will offer 31 original series in 2020 and 50 original series in 2021. The service will release most episodes on a weekly schedule, rather than release whole series at once.

Originals available at launch will include "Love Life," a scripted comedy starring Anna Kendrick; underground ballroom dance competition series "Legendary"; the new "Looney Tunes Cartoons"; "Craftopia," hosted by YouTube star LaurDIY; documentary "On the Record"; and Sesame Workshop's "The Not Too Late Show with Elmo."

"House of Dragons" -- a "Game of Thrones" prequel series -- is among the major originals planned for later release. 

HBO Max will also feature existing/archival content from WarnerMedia’s Turner Classic Movies, CNN, TNT, TBS, truTV, Crunchyroll, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Rooster Teeth, and Looney Tunes. It has invested in exclusive streaming rights to perennially favorite series including “Friends,” “South Park,” “The Big Bang Theory,” and Studio Ghibli films, and will also offer Warner Bros. and New Line movies, such as  “Joker,” “Godzilla” and “Shazam."

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