Physical & Digital EST: The Future of Home Video Discussion Thread

[cheez avenger]

Unlike Apple TV+ and Disney+, HBO Max has not announced plans to make content available in 4K HDR or Dolby Atmos. HBO Now is currently offering content in low-bitrate 1080p HD quality.

I wouldn't be surprised if they debut 4K offerings for The Snyder Cut, but who knows, the sooner the better. I subscribe to HBO now, with a discount, via HULU, so I'm in. Looking forward to it, too.

[InuYashaCrusade]

Originally Posted by Lee A Stewart

At this time, HBO Max will not work on any Amazon device or Roku device.

What the hell can it be viewed on then?

[JohnAV]

Originally Posted by InuYashaCrusade

What the hell can it be viewed on then?

Well

At launch, HBO Max will be available on Apple devices and fully integrated with the Apple TV app on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Apple TVs. The Cupertino tech giant is teaming with WarnerMedia on the launch of HBO Max despite having its own competitive horse in the subscription-streaming race in the form of Apple TV Plus.

Source

Added: Also Android TV, Chromecast, Samsung TVs besides ones we mentioned here and below.

[Lee A Stewart]

Originally Posted by InuYashaCrusade

What the hell can it be viewed on then?

PS4 & Xbox1

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by JohnAV

No 4k support. Can't blame that on the app either.

Sounds about as appealing as a rusty nail.

[bhampton]

I'm not signing up.

I do have a neighbor's HBONow subscription activated on my ATV4K... maybe I should make sure she understands this third try of HBO to remain relevant.

-Brian

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by bhampton

I'm not signing up.

I do have a neighbor's HBONow subscription activated on my ATV4K... maybe I should make sure she understands this third try of HBO to remain relevant.

-Brian

We get HBO content via Sky TV so I doubt HBO Max is coming here.

[Lee A Stewart]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

We get HBO content via Sky TV so I doubt HBO Max is coming here.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/ne...ollout-1250697

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Lee A Stewart

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/ne...ollout-1250697

Yep, as expected basically. That leaves two options. Sky subscription for pay tv or go the app route with Now tv. The downside of the app is that it doesn’t do 4K. It doesn’t even do 1080p, it goes to 720p I believe. Stereo sound only. I suspect they are holding back to make the Pay tv option more appealing.

I have Sky so it’s as you were. I would t have bought a streaming subscription.

Edit: latest model now has full HD but only if you pay £3 more per month! Good old Sky!

[cheez avenger]

Originally Posted by JohnAV

Well


Source

Added: Also Android TV, Chromecast, Samsung TVs besides ones we mentioned here and below.

Your link is about a month old and plenty of new devices have been added. Here's a current list as of 5/22:

What devices can stream HBO Max?

HBO Max will be available on a wide variety of devices, including phones, tablets, the web, connected TVs and game consoles.

The service has confirmed support for the following devices and platforms:

Most Apple devices that can stream video will support HBO Max -- iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD. However, customers with second- and third-generation Apple TV models will need to stream HBO Max content from their iPhone or iPad to their TV with AirPlay.

Google's Android operating system for phones and tablets will have an app. Android TV devices, Chromebooks, Google Chromecast and Chromecast built-in devices will support HBO Max too.

Sony's PlayStation 4 systems will be able to download the HBO Max app via the PlayStation Store.

Microsoft's Xbox One gaming consoles will also be able to get the HBO Max app via the Microsoft Store.

Select Samsung internet-connected smart TVs -- models from 2016 through 2020 -- will be able to download and purchase HBO Max directly.

But one popular device may not get HBO Max, at least initially. Earlier in May, AT&T incoming CEO John Stankey said that Amazon's Fire TV products may not have an HBO Max app. "I'm pleased to say we're going to be in virtually all app stores, or maybe one exception. It looks like we may not be in the Amazon Fire app store when all of this is said and done," he said.

https://www.cnet.com/news/hbo-max-di...es-snyder-cut/

[JohnAV]

Originally Posted by cheez avenger

Your link is about a month old and plenty of new devices have been added. Here's a current list as of 5/22:
https://www.cnet.com/news/hbo-max-di...es-snyder-cut/

And the CNET article lists pretty much what both me and Lee already reported for devices, so?

[cheez avenger]

Originally Posted by JohnAV

And the CNET article lists pretty much what both me and Lee already reported for devices, so?

Just adding a more update to date link is all.


I'll be getting segued in upon launch since I have HBO bundled with HULU. I'll definitely report back when it launches.

[JohnAV]

Originally Posted by cheez avenger

Just adding a more update to date link is all.
I'll be getting segued in upon launch since I have HBO bundled with HULU. I'll definitely report back when it launches.

Looking forward to your critique.

[Vilya]

It's kinda hard for me to get excited about still another subscription streaming service.

I only wonder if any of my friends plan on getting it and if they will share it with me. I sure won't be paying for it.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by Vilya

It's kinda hard for me to get excited about still another subscription streaming service.

No excitement here, looked over most of their movie offerings and I have saw the ones I wanted to see on their list. Also own on disc many of those titles. Like you say, just another big .

[Lee A Stewart]

I'm looking forward to HBO Max. As an AT&T stockholder, I will support the company. What is not listed in the link I provided for content are TV shows, specifically Big Bang Theory and Friends just to name two. I haven't seen either Westworld or Game Of Thrones. Plus there promises to be a lot of WB Animation. HD quality is fine for me. Should be the same as Hulu and Disney+. I will also be canceling Netflix at the end of this month so my financial outlay will only be a few bucks different (+).

[JohnAV]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

No excitement here, looked over most of their movie offerings and I have saw the ones I wanted to see on their list. Also own on disc many of those titles. Like you say, just another big .

I think the app navigation and suggested content will be either its biggest negative or positive. So many of the apps show a scrolling vertical graphical representation of images arrayed horizontally.

When you start boasting 10,000 movies, unless you have something like Netflix or Disneys related/suggested content to look at, you find subscribers getting very weary of using the app, no matter how much is on it. HBO Max even seeing image shows how still have people floundering scrolling through all of it to see what they want to watch.



Some people want to have it suggested always something they could watch when navigating. Its one of the reasons people watch broadcast as they don't like so much choice.

We here that have a few streaming services, would actually prefer services that make it a lot less of a chore to be entertained. If it ends up being the kitchen sink with obscuring HBO content with so much endless shows and movies I am not sure the albatross will be able to land safely after it takes off.

[JohnAV]

HBO Max’s Biggest Competitor: HBO
Consumers haven’t a clue what the difference is. - Bloomberg 5/25/20

HBO Max launches in just two days, and it has the potential to be one of the best streaming-TV apps out there. The only problem is, consumers don’t seem to have a clue what’s on it.

In a poll earlier this month conducted by Morning Consult and the Hollywood Reporter, some 2,000 U.S. adults were asked to choose from a list of TV shows and movie titles which ones they think will be available on HBO Max, a new Netflix-like service being introduced by AT&T Inc.’s WarnerMedia division. The results should worry company executives:

As the chart shows, hardly any of the respondents knew that HBO Max would be the exclusive streaming destination for the hit sitcoms “Friends” and “The Big Bang Theory” — highly sought-after content rights that WarnerMedia reportedly spent more than $900 million to secure for the new service. It also wasn’t apparent to the survey takers that DC Comics films and “Sesame Street” would reside on HBO Max.

HBO has stood as a force all its own for so long that most people just don’t realize it shares a parent company with Warner Bros. studios and other TV networks, such as Cartoon Network, TBS and Turner Classic Movies. That’s too bad since the same poll showed that the inclusion of such content would make many consumers more likely to subscribe. The most telling response, though: Most of the people polled didn’t even think that “Game of Thrones” — the premier series of HBO’s entire 47-year history — would be accessible through HBO Max, even though it has “HBO” in the name.

Consumers can be forgiven for the confusion. Americans’ experience so far with streaming-TV apps is that nothing is intuitive and everything is hard to find. For example, it’s not like ESPN+ is a digital replica of regular ESPN; it’s a different product entirely. And for years “Friends” has been available on Netflix, so young people may only know it as a Netflix show. Without being aware of HBO’s ownership and WarnerMedia’s recent dealmaking, there’s no obvious reason Central Perk would be on the same block as Sesame Street, around the corner from Westeros on the streaming continent of HBO Max. To make matters more confusing, streaming regular HBO (through the HBO Now app) and signing up for HBO Max costs exactly the same — $15 a month.

Disney+, which has signed up more than 50 million users since its November launch, doesn’t share HBO Max’s branding conundrum. The only thing survey takers seemed to know for sure is that “The Mandalorian” isn’t part of HBO Max. And that’s probably because Walt Disney Co. has so successfully reestablished “Star Wars” as a Disney property, even though it has only owned the franchise since 2012. The same goes for Pixar and Marvel. It’s for that reason that the biggest hangup of Disney+ — being so narrowly focused on superheroes and kid-friendly programming — can also be a strength.

The Force Is With Disney+
Consumers may not know what's on HBO Max, but they seem to have a strong sense of Disney and Netflix content:

The biggest challenge for other streaming services may be building loyalty when viewers aren’t quite sure what to expect. The move away from appointment viewing on cable TV means that while we’re loyal to particular series and trilogies, we don’t necessarily know (or care) what networks or studios they’re tied to.

For WarnerMedia, there’s still certainly a powerful advantage in continuing to use the HBO name for its new product — right away it tells people to expect great content (and hopefully that quality isn’t sacrificed while trying to keep up with the Netflix production factory). At the same time, it makes it difficult and costly to educate consumers on what HBO Max even is. That’s especially true when some of its content is temporarily licensed from its very competitors, such as Disney’s “The Mighty Ducks” and “X-Men: Dark Phoenix,” thanks to distribution deals that predate the streaming wars. (Remember, “X-Men” is Marvel, not the DC Extended Universe.)

HBO Max could give other apps a run for their money. But how do you easily explain that it’s just like regular HBO, but it has all this other stuff you’ll probably like as well, yet it doesn’t cost anything extra? Good luck fitting that into a compelling advertisement.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Vilya

It's kinda hard for me to get excited about still another subscription streaming service.

I only wonder if any of my friends plan on getting it and if they will share it with me. I sure won't be paying for it.

You have more front than Brighton Beach!

(You May need to look that up!)

[sapiendut]

If I want to subscribe to all the services that will cover all the shows I do watch on cable, I’ll end up paying more than cable by about $20 a month.