HBO Max has temporarily slashed prices by 30 percent as Warner Bros. Discovery removes more titles amid a larger corporate re-organization, which recently saw the elimination of dozens of jobs at the streamer.
On Thursday. HBO Max began offering a 30 percent discount to customers willing to pay for a whole year upfront. Customers can pay $104.99 for the first year instead of $149.99 for the current, ad-free version of the service. The ad-supported tier is going for $69.99 for the first year, instead of the regular $99.99.
HBO Max cuts 14% of staff, or 70 employees, mainly in casting, acquisitions and reality TV divisions https://t.co/a6maiNmPL0
— CNBC Middle East (@CNBCMiddleEast) August 15, 2022
The promotion comes as HBO Max is set to lose all eight Harry Potter movies, which are headed to NBCUniversal’s Peacock as part of a prior contractual arrangement. The Harry Potter movies will leave HBO Max on August 31, though they could return at a future date.
On Thursday, Warner Bros. Discovery yanked more titles from HBO Max as executives begin the work to merge the streamer with Discovery+.
The titles leaving HBO Max are mostly children’s shows, such as The Not-Too-Late Show With Elmo, and unscripted content, like Ellen’s Next Great Designer.
HBO Max
A total of 36 titles have been flagged for removal from the streamer Thursday.
“As we work toward bringing our content catalogs together under one platform, we will be making changes to the content offering available on both HBO Max and discovery+. That will include the removal of some content from both platforms,” the company said in a statement.
But some outlets, including Variety, noted that removing the titles from streaming would help Warner Bros. Discovery cut costs by culling lesser-watched programs, thereby saving money on residuals.
Earlier this month, HBO Max lost a handful of HBO original shows, including Vinyl and Camping, as well as several other titles that were exclusive to the streamer.
As Breitbart News reported, Warner Bros. Discovery laid off about 70 employees from HBO Max this week.
On Thursday, the company also canceled CNN’s Reliable Sources with Brian Stelter. The left-wing Stelter announced he will be leaving the network.
Follow David Ng on Twitter @HeyItsDavidNg. Have a tip? Contact me at dng@breitbart.com.
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