Wondering something similar via YouTubeTV we use at a rental property. Had agreed to an annual price like you, but it's not set to process for another week yet.
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HBO Max Gets Another Price Increase
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Wondering something similar via YouTubeTV we use at a rental property. Had agreed to an annual price like you, but it's not set to process for another week yet.
I tired of all the disparate streaming services and the always increasing prices a while ago. I cancelled everything except YouTube Premium.
Everything else I watch is from my personal library of DVD or BD, which I continue to build.
There is an argument that this actually costs more than streaming. But the value I get from knowing that I actually own the movie/TV show and that they can’t remove it from my library, that I don’t have to tolerate ads or worry about an internet outage where I can’t use a service makes the cost of physical media worth it to me.
For me, money isn’t everything and it’s not the sole contributing factor either.
Everything else I watch is from my personal library of DVD or BD, which I continue to build.
There is an argument that this actually costs more than streaming. But the value I get from knowing that I actually own the movie/TV show and that they can’t remove it from my library, that I don’t have to tolerate ads or worry about an internet outage where I can’t use a service makes the cost of physical media worth it to me.
For me, money isn’t everything and it’s not the sole contributing factor either.
Forgetting about a few Blockbuster DVDs in my trunk for a few months was cheaper than this.
Warner Bro Discovery officially said today that it's up for sale
Warner Bros. Discovery Is for Sale After All, as “Multiple Parties” Circle
The board of directors is also considering other “strategic alternatives to maximize shareholder value.”
www.hollywoodreporter.com
Warner Bros. Discovery Is for Sale After All, as “Multiple Parties” Circle
October 21, 2025
Sounds like Warner Bros. Discovery is for sale after all.
Amid swirling reports of bidding interest by Paramount Global, the WBD board of directors says it “has initiated a review of strategic alternatives to maximize shareholder value.” That’s the first acknowledgement of a (metaphorical) “For Sale” sign hanging from the iconic WB water tower.
In a press release on Tuesday morning, the Warner Bros. Discovery board of directors said it has received “unsolicited interest” from “multiple parties.” And it’s listening.
“Strategic options” include continuing with the previously announced split and spin, a la NBCUniversal and Versant, a “transaction for the entire company” or “separate transactions for its Warner Bros. and/or Discovery Global businesses.” There is even the potential for “an alternative separation structure that would enable a merger of Warner Bros. and spin-off of Discovery Global to our shareholders.”
Basically, it’s all on the table.
Raising prices now will allow Warner Bro Discovery to show potential buyers (e.g. Paramount Skydance, Netflix, Comcast, Amazon, etc) how profitable HBO Max is. This in turn will allow Warner Bro Discovery to ask for a higher buyout price for their streaming and studios businesses which is what the interested parties are mainly interested in, not Warner Bro Discovery's legacy media business.
To put this into perspective, if you subscribe to HBO Max for essentially 1 show, you’ll spend about $55.50 for a 12 episode series that plays over 3 months. That same show will coast you $36 for 12 episodes at $2.99 an episode. Older seasons can be bought on sale for $25, maybe less. So it’s cheaper to buy a season of TV than to subscribe. A blu-ray can be cheaper still, especially during a sale. Streaming is becoming less and less of a bargain when you begin to add up the costs.
Easy: rotate between 2 or 3 services every 3 months. No need to pay for “waiting for the new season to arrive”. Also how may shows can you watch at the same time?. Just focus on watching shows from 2 platforms at any time, then rotate and keep 1 that is the one you like most.
Even if you cancel or pause a service for a couple of months your profile is still there!.
That is what I do with Apple TV and Disney. And now will do wkth HBO.
Even if you cancel or pause a service for a couple of months your profile is still there!.
That is what I do with Apple TV and Disney. And now will do wkth HBO.
Eh…they’re only doing this to puff themselves up as they entertain the recent unsolicited buyout offers after they SpinCo their Discovery business (that never should have been welded together, but… thanks AT&T! ..you morons).
WBD (post-ATT SpinCo) never had a future. It was always just a wish and a dream at best (and they all knew it, just afraid to say it out loud).
Edit: hah! Sw1tcher beat me to it! 👍
WBD (post-ATT SpinCo) never had a future. It was always just a wish and a dream at best (and they all knew it, just afraid to say it out loud).
Edit: hah! Sw1tcher beat me to it! 👍
Minimum service terms can't be far away. Whenever you rejoin, they'll require a new 12 month minimum term commitment.
I recently discovered The Substance on there. Starring Demi Moore, Margret Qualley and Dennis Quad! Amazing movie.
Classic business model, we make discounts to gain a user base and then step by step we increase prices
Frack all these damn companies! Record profits and it’s never enough for them is it!? We have billionaires squeezing us for every dime we have!
Enough is enough’. HBO canceled. Frack you greedy bastaaaads.
Enough is enough’. HBO canceled. Frack you greedy bastaaaads.
HBO who 😂 it finally launches for us next year in the U.K. for the 1st time. We only just got Hulu 🤣 as part of Disney plus. We are always way behind the US, we still don’t have Apple Card 😮.
As streaming services continue to raise their prices, they’re only pushing the market back toward piracy. The problem isn’t that people don’t want to pay — it’s that every company insists on having its own platform, its own exclusive catalog, and constant content removals.
The solution is simple: fix the licensing chaos, stop the greed, and build stable libraries that people can trust. Many viewers would gladly pay a fair price for a single service that actually offers everything in one place.
The solution is simple: fix the licensing chaos, stop the greed, and build stable libraries that people can trust. Many viewers would gladly pay a fair price for a single service that actually offers everything in one place.
You're right! They really missed the boat. The tiers could have been HBO max, HBO pro, and HBO max pro.
I'm glad HBO is included in my AT&T bill, which hasn't gone up a penny when HBO has hiked their rates.
Yeah, I now get Netflix and HBO Max (with ads of course) on my Verizon bill for $10, whereas the same Netflix plan by itself was costing us ~$19! Don't know how, don't care how - happy to save the $$.
You can still buy stand-alone, no sub needed versiond of that niche software MS Office...