The Diary Game 27/04/2021. HBO is preparing for HBO Max's entry in Europe.
Today, the series Friends appeared on HBO Go, which had left Netflix at the end of 2020. Also on HBO Go is now The Big Bang Theory, which until last year was in parallel on the two streaming services.
Although it lost Friends, Netflix has the rights to Seinfeld, which will be available in the summer, plus** Modern Family** and How I met your mother (to refer to some well-rated sitcoms).
But things are starting to take shape for HBO Max, which also has classics such as The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Sex and the city, Oz, Banshee, Game of Thrones. Add to that a lot of interesting movies, plus new productions in the works. What surprises me is that they introduced Friends on HBO Go, given that HBO Max will be released in Europe later this year. And the price at which HBO Max will come can be expected to be close to Netflix.
About a year ago, Warner Media launched another streaming service called HBO Max. Why did they do that when they already have two streaming platforms, HBO Go and HBO Now? I don't think it's clear to anyone. Maybe because they just wanted to start from scratch with a new platform, after realizing that it's too complicated to fix the problems in HBO Go. Maybe they wanted to come up with a new product that would not tarnish the questionable reputation of other products. Or maybe because they have a well-structured plan, in which each of the three existing entities now has a well-defined role and audience.
I also explained that we have HBO Go for four euros a month (for a limited time) is rather an error in the Matrix. HBO Go was just an add-on for the cable subscription, an exception was made for Europe so that subscriptions can be made directly with the card, so that no other subscription is needed. It will be interesting to see how HBO makes the transition from Go to Max. Of course, they will provide a much larger bookstore, but the price will be higher. I would not be surprised to have a gradual transition, in which HBO Go will remain only with certain original HBO shows, and then disappear altogether. Maybe there will be a few months in which the price will stay close to HBO Go, as a form of trial. Clearly, the main concern right now in HBO's offices is how to convert as many of the current users as possible, only then will they focus on acquiring new customers.
According to American polls, HBO currently has a 26% market share. A poll last year estimated at 33%. We're probably somewhere at 30% really. Which means hundreds of thousands of subscribers (four million landline connections in urban areas, of which 70% would have a streaming service, so about three million; subscription usage is around 2.9; of this million Netflix has 46%, HBO about 30%). It's nothing official, not even on sources, it's just an educated guess. Anyway, I will come back soon with extensive material about the current state of streaming services.