• by Wayne Friedman , October 23, 2025

While now officially in "strategic review" of potential buyers of the company, Warner Bros. Discovery is also raising subscription prices for its high-profile streamer, HBO Max.

The announcement came a day after WBD said it would evaluate a broad range of “strategic” options for the company, which could include offers from Paramount Skydance, Comcast Corp., and possibly Netflix.

Price increases will be effective immediately.

Ad-supported HBO Max Basic With Ads prices will go up $1 a month to $10.99 -- in line with other premium competitor services.

The ad-free HBO Max Standard will increase by $1.50 a month to $18.49. HBO Max Premium will add $2/month, to $22.99.

The HBO Max-Disney bundle combination for the streamers (with ads) will now be $19.99/month, and the no-ads tier will increase to $32.99/month.

In addition, WBD’s bundle deal with Walt Disney (HBO Max, Disney+ and Hulu) will now be $3 a month higher, climbing to $19.99/month. 

Amid speculation that WBD could approve merger deals with Paramount Skydance, Comcast Corp. or Netflix, analysts are speculating where the best fit could be for the company -- especially for its still-growing streaming services HBO Max and discovery+.

Bernstein Research speculates that Netflix in particular may be a candidate -- at least to buy part of the company: WBD’s proposed "Studios & Streaming" unit.

For Netflix it could be seen as a defensive move against Paramount or Comcast. If either buys WBD, the belief is that it could cause some issues for Netflix.

“The resulting entity would be a formidable competitor, one that could accelerate churn for Netflix, and slow its subscribers growth,” says Laurent Yoon, media analyst at Bernstein Research. “Not a home run but enough to keep Netflix’s corporate development team busy.”

Still, Yoon adds that “while a short-term boost is likely, we do not believe the addition of WBD content will sustainably increase person engagement on Netflix”.

Right now, Bernstein says HBO Max has around 40% of Netflix engagement (viewing) per person per day. Average Netflix engagement is around 60 minutes per person per day.

There is also limited subscriber growth for Netflix, as less that 90% of HBO Max subscribers are Netflix subscribers.