Max Hikes Price for Ad-Free Plans Effective Immediately

Warner Bros. Discovery has increased the price for the ad-free Max streaming plans just ahead of HBO’s “House of the Dragon” Season 2 premiere on June 16.

Beginning Tuesday (June 4), Max’s ad-free tier in the U.S. will rise $1 from $15.99 to $16.99 per month, and the annual plan will jump from $149.99 to $169.99. The “ultimate” ad-free tier will also increase by $1 per month, rising to $20.99 per month, and by $10 per year, bringing the new annual cost to $209.99.

The Max ad-supported version’s price is unchanged at $9.99/month or $99.99/year.

These increased prices are effective immediately for new subscriptions, while current customers will have some time to adjust to the hike. Per WBD, “Existing subscribers will be notified 30 days in advance of their plan renewing and see price increases starting from their next billing cycle on or after Thursday, July 4, 2024. Current yearly subscribers will not see an increase until renewal.”

The price hikes for the Max tiers without ads are designed to accelerate the streamer’s profitability — and also encourage more price-sensitive consumers to sign up for the ad-supported plan.

For the first quarter of 2024, Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming segment revenue was flat at $2.46 billion, while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization came in at $86 million (up from EBITDA of $50 million in the year-earlier period). “With our strong start in Q1, I expect us to remain profitable in the [direct-to-consumer] segment during 2024, despite the heavy launch investments,” CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels told analysts on the earnings call. He added, “I remain fully confident in our path to achieve our $1 billion plus EBITDA target for 2025 and our growth ambitions thereafter.”

Here are the details of what’s included with each of Max’s three tiers:

In a letter announcing the price increase to customers, Warner Bros. Discovery said: “Max is the one to watch for iconic series, hit movies, fresh originals, family favorites, breaking news, and live sports, and this increase allows us to continue to invest in delivering more culture-defining programming and improving our customer experience for all users.”

Along with “House of the Dragon” Season 2, other titles touted by Max in connection with the price increase included “The Penguin,” starring Colin Ferrell, and new seasons of HBO’s “My Brilliant Friend,” “Industry,” “The Sex Lives of College Girls” and “Sort Of,” as well as NBA, NHL and MLB games.