Starting today, September 15th, HBO is getting stripped from Amazon Prime video accounts. Users who’ve subscribed to HBO through the Amazon Prime service will have the account terminated due to HBO leaving Amazon Prime video. However, the streaming service and HBO’s content will still be available on all your favorite Amazon Fire devices.
Before this change, users who enjoy Amazon Prime Video could pay an extra $15 per month and get HBO in the list of Amazon channels, delivering access to all of HBO’s great content. And while this made the sign-up process easy, it doesn’t benefit the end-user or HBO.
Moving forward, you’ll have to download and install the standalone HBO Max app on your Amazon Fire devices, which will be the main access point for HBO content. As a result, users will get a better, more streamlined experience with recommendations or the “continue watching” option.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, this move will cost HBO roughly 5 million subscribers who signed up using Amazon Prime Video. That said, anyone who purchased an HBO subscription through Amazon will have their HBO Max access rolled over for no additional cost. In addition, even if you’re in the middle of a billing month, you’ll get a pro-rated rate and be eligible to receive an unspecified special offer for the HBO Max streaming service after the original Amazon subscription ends.
Essentially, this allows HBO Max to have a dedicated streaming app on all Fire TV devices, enabling the company to better tailor the experience to each user in-app, rather than simply offering its content on the Amazon channels service.
via Gizmodo