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    AT&T says HBO Max streaming service to launch in May for $15

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments1635 Views
    This May 14, 2014 file photo shows an AT&T logo on a store in Dedham, Mass. AT&T planned to announce details of its upcoming streaming service on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2019. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

    By Tali Arbel, AP Technology Writer

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    AT&T said Tuesday that its HBO Max streaming service will launch in May for $15 a month, joining a crowded field.

    The company has said HBO Max will become the "workhorse" for its video business as cord-cutting of traditional TV expands. It hopes to migrate people who pay for HBO in different ways today to the new platform. The service grew out of AT&T's $81 billion purchase of Time Warner, which AT&T overhauled and rechristened WarnerMedia.

    HBO Max will challenge Netflix alongsideDisney , Comcast and Apple . It will be the most expensive of the new services that have announced prices, which could make it challenging to expand its customer base.

    It is also the same price as HBO Now, the current HBO streaming service for people who don't get the cable channel. Company officials expect existing HBO customers — those subscribing either via cable or HBO Now — to switch to HBO Max, which will offer far more to watch.

    Some existing subscribers to HBO's cable channel or HBO Now will get free access to HBO Max, AT&T said.

    The company said it will launch a version of HBO Max with ads in 2021, a new twist for a brand known for being ad-free. The company wants to reach 50 million subscribers in the U.S. by 2025, and 75 to 90 million worldwide. It expects HBO Max to be profitable starting in 2023.

    The service will offer movies and programs from HBO and the WarnerMedia library, including "Friends ," which it will pull back from Netflix. Other hits like "The Big Bang Theory" and "South Park" will also be available.

    It's aiming for kids with "Sesame Street" and an Elmo talk show. And it will have superhero movies from DC.

    The service will also launch 50 original series in the first year, half targeted to younger adults and the remainder split between shows for kids and for adults. The service won't release a season's worth of episodes all at once, as Netflix typically does.

    AT&T will bundle HBO Max with some unlimited wireless plans as well as certain "premium" home TV and internet plans to promote the streaming service. It will work with other cable and satellite companies to get them to offer the HBO Max service for their customers too.

    It plans to invest roughly $2 billion into HBO Max in 2020 and about $1 billion annually for a few more years. (Netflix will spend $15 billion this year alone on shows and movies.) AT&T executives stressed an emphasis on quality.

    AT&T is looking to future-proof its video business, which has been shrinking as cord-cutting accelerates. Customers are departing its previous attempt at a new-TV tack, the online-cable substitute today known as AT&T TV Now, as AT&T sought to make it profitable and raised prices.

     

    Tags:AT&THBO Max



    Ex-OpenAI engineer who raised legal concerns about the technology he helped build has died

    Saturday, December 21, 2024
    Suchir Balaji poses for a photo in Hawaii in 2018. Balaji was a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who died in November 2024. (Balaji Ramamurthy via AP)

    Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who helped train the artificial intelligence systems behind ChatGPT and later said he believed those practices violated copyright law, has died, according to his parents and San Francisco officials. He was 26.

    Balaji worked at OpenAI for nearly four years before quitting in August. He was well-regarded by colleagues at the San Francisco company, where a co-founder this week called him one of OpenAI's strongest contributors who was essential to developing some of its products.

    "We are devastated to learn of this incredibly sad news and our hearts go out to Suchir's loved ones during this difficult time," said a statement from OpenAI.

    Balaji was found dead in his San Francisco apartment on Nov. 26 in what police said "appeared to be a suicide. No evidence of foul play was found during the initial investigation." The city's chief medical examiner's office confirmed the manner of death to be suicide.

    His parents Poornima Ramarao and Balaji Ramamurthy said they are still seeking answers, describing their son as a "happy, smart and brave young man" who loved to hike and recently returned from a trip with friends.

    Balaji grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and first arrived at the fledgling AI research lab for a 2018 summer internship while studying computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. He returned a few years later to work at OpenAI, where one of his first projects, called WebGPT, helped pave the way for ChatGPT.

    "Suchir's contributions to this project were essential, and it wouldn't have succeeded without him," said OpenAI co-founder John Schulman in a social media post memorializing Balaji. Schulman, who recruited Balaji to his team, said what... Read More

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