They don’t have any shows now that I would pay $15 a month for.
I think they have too many cooks in the kitchen. Are they going to keep HBONOW and HBOGO and have HBOMAX?
@IsaacBrown The beauty of the digital streaming era compared to cable is you’re not locked into a service because of a contract. Want to watch GoT? Only $15 if you can binge it all in a month. Still cheaper than buying all the seasons or being locked into a cable contract for 2 years. Finished GoT and don’t see anything on the service you like? Cancel it. No harm no foul.
The other advantage is that it provides consumers options. Want to watch Avengers: Endgame? Well you can pay $6.99 for Disney+ (when it’s available), or buy the movie for $20 or rent it for $4 (digitally or physically). Options put the power in consumers hands.
Netflix was the pioneer of digital streaming. Everyone had them as the gold standard and flocked to license their content on Netflix because no one else did streaming like they did. Times have changed. Companies have figured out they’ll get more money if they have their own services and consumers pay them directly. Having all your content on one service was nice but it simply couldn’t last. Especially when you look at Netflix’s current debt amount and business plan. They’re going to have to continue raising prices to make any money and that makes the deal much worse, in my opinion.
Compared to back when you only had access to content through cable/buying physical media, my money now means even more to content providers. If I like what Disney is doing, I can support them directly and have access to their catalog of content. If I don’t like what their doing? I don’t have to give them a cent. And they’ll know it. Same goes for Netflix, Hulu, HBO, DC, etc.
The content being separated across different services isn’t a bad thing, provided it’s priced accordingly. You saying that HBO Max doesn’t have enough to justify its (still unannounced) price tag is fine. That’s your opinion. If the rumors that I’ve heard are true (HBO Max being only a few dollars more than HBO Now), I’ll subscribe in a heartbeat. Their content is worth it to me
But see that’s the beautiful thing about these services. You’re not forced to have them if you don’t want it. You only want DC content? DC Universe is a better choice than HBO Max. Want DC content and Marvel content? DC Universe and Disney+ is still a super cheap price for a ton of content. Run out of content to watch on either service? You’re not locked into a contract so just cancel one of them and try out something else for a month or use that money to buy a piece of content you want to have. Choice is good.
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@IsaacBrown Also, don’t forget that I was referring to HBO Max as a good thing for the health of DC Universe. If WB can/will make money off of 1 piece of content in 2 places, they’re more willing to put resources into content for those services. This means we the consumers get more content. Doom Patrol being in DC Universe as well as HBO Max means Doom Patrol makes more money for WB which means WB puts more money into make more Doom Patrol which makes more money for WB. This is business at the end of the day, not fan service. That being said, consumers can play the game too and come out on top. You just gotta vote with your wallet.
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Judging from what you say here, if there are others like you this service won’t last another year. If HBOMAX is going to have all the original DCU shows do you think this app stands a chance? It doesn’t, so we as customers lose the $7 option with our niche programming here. We now have to pay an extra nine or ten dollars to see these shows, I’m not doing that. That is where this is heading and that is my main grievance. That’s me voting with my wallet. You make good points though. Excellent dialogue on this thread.
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All I know is… EVERY SEASON of Dr Phil should be on DCU.
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@IsaacBrown I don’t think WB will shut down DC Universe. It’s their only opportunity to get money from people who feel the same as you do. All of my points are based on both DC Universe and HBO Max existing simultaneously. If WB shuts down DC Universe, they’ll lose the thousands of subscribers they’ve worked to gain. My point of Doom Patrol being on HBO Max being a good thing is because Doom Patrol will make money for WB because it’s on HBO Max AND DC Universe. It makes them
Money in two different places. I truly don’t believe DC Universe is in trouble because of HBO Max. If WB has a single functioning brain between all the executives, they’ll let both services exist simultaneously.
Look to Disney for an example. Disney bought Fox so now Disney owns 60% of Hulu. When that happened, no one was sure what would happen to Hulu since Disney was about to launch Disney+. Would it shut down? Would it be rebranded? Disney knew the value of Hulu. So they didn’t touch Hulu and even offered a bundle that includes Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu for an insanely cheap $12.99/month. That’s amazing but also, just an option. If you only want Hulu, that’s fine you can still only have Hulu if that’s what you want to pay for.
WB needs to follow the same direction. Let DC Universe continue to be a stand-alone service for those who only want DC content, offer a bundle that includes DC Universe plus HBO Max at a slight discount (or at least perceivable good deal), and offer HBO Max as a stand-alone service as well. Offering options to consumers earns you their favor which earns you their money. If WB is smart, this is the direction they’ll take.
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@IsaacBrown And also just to clarify, my statements of DC Universe being healthier because of HBO Max are contingent on the following scenario:
-Original Programming is still made for DC Universe, you just happen to also be able to watch it on HBO Max (note: in addition to DC Universe. Not instead of). Original content does not leave DC Universe for HBO Max. It’s simply viewable in both places.
-DC Universe remains the exclusive home to DC’s 25,000+ streaming comic book library.
-DC Universe remains the home of exclusive shopping deals, sweepstakes, community, and news from DC.
Doing this makes good business sense and taking something away from one of your niche platforms to put it on your more expensive broad appeal platform does not make good business sense. Content can be in more than one place especially when both places are owned by the same company.
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I hope you’re right. I think it would make sense for the DCU to simultaneously show Watchmen the new series on here with HBO like they plan on doing with Doom Patrol.
Oh wow thats some bullshit
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Best case scenario, this app gets folded into HBO Max. Disney+ is giving us Disney, Hulu, and ESPN for 12.99 a month. I wouldn’t be shocked if WB did something similar.
This app is unique with the community and the comic books. I don’t see those features integrating on an HBOMAX app. I would like to see it continue as is with more shows not necessarily superhero shows. I thought Swamp Thing was a step in the right direction.
I think it would be more along the lines of: you pay an extra 5-7 dollars for Max, and this app would become tied to your account.
They may have a bundle deal down the road, but if they’re already taking the shows I doubt it.
They don’t even know what the heck they’re doing. They are going to have 3 apps come next year, it’s a mess.
I see one of the big headlines now is 20,000 AT&T workers have gone on strike.
What exactly is the difference between HBONOW and HBOGO?
I know HBOMAX is going to have “Friends” and the old “Fresh Prince” shows. That’s supposed to make it superior to the other two?
They should start fleshing this out better if they want to sell it to the public.
I am pretty sure Google has all the answers you are looking for about HBO.