What will happen to HBO Max subscribers after Netflix bought the platform? The two possible options

Netflix made a dramatic move to the media market on Friday, announcing that it would buy Warner Bros. and with it HBO television and its HBO Max streaming platform. While the two sides have yet to specify what will happen to existing HBO Max subscribers, there are essentially two major possibilities.

“This acquisition brings together two pioneering entertainment companies, combining the innovation, global reach and world-class streaming service of Netflix with Warner Bros' century-long legacy of world-class storytelling. Beloved franchises, series and films such as The Big Bang Theory, The Sopranos, game of thrones, The Wizard of Oz and DC Universe will join Netflix's expanding portfolio, which includes Wednesday, Money Heist, Bridgerton, Adolescence and Extractioncreating an extraordinary entertainment offering for audiences around the world,” Netflix said in a statement published on its website announcing the deal valued at more than $80 billion.

Elsewhere in the statement, the company noted: “By adding the extensive collections of movies and TV series, as well as HBO and HBO Max, Netflix subscribers will have even more high-quality titles to choose from. This also allows Netflix to optimize its offerings for consumers, improving viewing options and expanding access to content.”

The two statements leave no doubt that HBO and HBO Max productions will be added to the Netflix library for its subscribers to watch. The first option is basically that Netflix executives decide to shut down HBO Max altogether and, quite possibly, come up with a technical solution to allow existing subscribers to automatically transfer their accounts to the Netflix platform.

This happened practically last year even to HBO Max subscribers, when the old platform was replaced by the new Max (which meanwhile reverted to the previous name on the new site). However, in the present case the transfer of the accounts would probably not be as simple, since we are dealing with servers of different companies, with different infrastructure, databases and so on.

Netflix could let HBO Max run in parallel

The other plausible option is that, for a while at least, Netflix will continue to keep HBO Max as a distinct platform, just like Disney does for example in the United States – where it has 3 different streaming platforms: Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ (for sports events).

Amazon, for its part, kept Epix, the streaming platform of the legendary studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, running after buying it in 2021 in another historic transaction.

Epix has been renamed MGM+ and operates alongside Amazon Prime Video, the main streaming platform of Amazon MGM, the name given to the acquisition of the film division of the company founded by Jeff Bezos.

Elsewhere in the statement released Friday, Netflix appears to leave the door open to that possibility, though the wording is ambiguous: “Netflix expects to maintain Warner Bros' current operations and build on its strengths, including theatrical releases of films.”

HBO is one of the most powerful brands in media

In this variant, HBO Max would essentially continue to function as a “secondary” platform for the company: all Warner Bros. and HBO movies and series would be released on Netflix, but Netflix's original productions would not be released on HBO Max, which would likely remain available for a lower-priced subscription.

Although it seems less plausible, this option is favored by the fact that HBO is one of the most powerful brands in media, American television being recognized for its popular and high-quality series. That's exactly why Warner Bros Discovery, the larger conglomerate that owns Warner Bros studios, HBO and HBO Max, decided to revert to the old name HBO Max just a year after dropping the HBO part of its streaming platform's name in favor of just Max.

The choice of either option will largely depend on whether the streaming company's executives want HBO to remain a strong, distinct brand, or to be “subsumed” into the Netflix brand.

There are other possibilities, such as Netflix launching an entirely new platform that would bring together its current productions and those of HBO, but such an option seems unlikely at least for now due to the already great difficulties when it comes to ensuring the success of such large-scale acquisitions.

Warner Bros Discovery and Netflix have announced that they expect the acquisition to be completed in the third quarter of next year, after the first company's TV networks (CNN, Eurosport, TNT and others) will be separated into a separate entity to be listed on the stock exchange after the split.

In other words, they were not bought by Netflix and their future in streaming remains unclear for now.