Fans who ritually watch Last Week Tonight With John Oliver YouTube clips on Mondays will be sorely disappointed: HBO has decided to wait a few days before posting them online.
Oliver himself broke the news on X (formerly Twitter), saying that HBO will wait until Thursday to post the main story clip. Variety’s Todd Spangler spotted the tweet first.
“I hope they change their mind, but until then, you can see our piece about the Supreme Court on HBO, on MAX, and on YouTube in a few days,” he said.
While Oliver didn’t give a reason for the delay, the most likely reason is HBO is looking to push people to subscribe to its sister service, Max, which offers the show on its streaming service. Max costs $9.99 a month for the base ad-supported plan vs. the free YouTube clip. Both HBO and Max are owned by Warner Bros. Discovery.
Update: A spokesperson confirmed the move with Cord Cutters News and said it was done in an effort to encourage fans to sign up for Max. “When Last Week Tonight with John Oliver premiered on HBO, the convenience of watching on Max did not exist so YouTube allowed flexible viewing for the main story as well as promotional exposure,” the spokesperson said. “We are now delaying that availability and hope those fans choose to watch the entire show on Max.”
Last Week Tonight With John Oliver has won both critical and commercial success for taking in-depth looks at various issues, mixing humor, outrage, and insight into his various segments. His main stories often take up 20+ minutes as he gets into the weeds of everything from the Olympics to this week’s topic on the Supreme Court.
For those unwilling to subscribe to Max, you’ll have to wait four more days to see the segment.
Image credit: HBO