Earlier this month, we learned that WarnerMedia’s deal to keep HBO Now on Fire TV devices is set to expire this month. On July 31, Amazon will no longer support the HBO Now app, as reported by Variety.
Note: updated with a direct link to the Variety report.
A deal still hasn’t been made to make HBO Max available for Amazon Fire or Roku users, so those with a Fire TV device will no longer have a standalone HBO app supported by their device. (Note: HBO will still be available through other services like Prime Channels and as an add-on to many live TV streaming services.)
On July 31, HBO Now will become just “HBO” and the app will still be available on other devices, including Roku. HBO Go will also be retired at that time.
“Now that HBO Max has launched and is widely distributed, we can implement some significant changes to our app offering in the U.S.,” the company said in a statement when the announcement was made. “Most customers who have traditionally used HBO Go to stream HBO programming are now able to do so via HBO Max.”
While the plan was for HBO Now users to transition to HBO Max, the lack of support on the top two streaming platforms has prevented many HBO viewers from upgrading. Nearly 30% of subscribers have not made the switch to HBO Max.
While there’s still time for AT&T and Amazon to come to an agreement, AT&T CEO John Stankey’s comments during a Q2 earnings call didn’t sound optimistic. “We’ve tried repeatedly to make HBO Max available to all customers using Amazon Fire devices, including those customers that have purchased HBO via Amazon. Unfortunately, Amazon has taken an approach of treating HBO Max and its customers differently than how they’ve chosen to treat other services and their customers.”
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