- HBO Max (NYSE:T) is coming to Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) Fire TV, closing a gap that's been open since the high-stakes streaming service launched in the spring.
- HBO Max will start rolling out to Fire TV streaming devices, Fire TV Edition smart televisions, and Fire tablets tomorrow.
- At launch, current subscribers of HBO through Amazon's Prime Video Channels will be able to log in to the HBO Max app using their Amazon credentials at no extra cost. The HBO app on Fire TV and Fire tablets will automatically update to become the HBO Max app.
- All HBO Max customers (however they came to the platform) can access it through supported Fire TV and Fire tablets using existing provider credentials.
- And those with voice remotes or paired Echo devices can say "Alex, find HBO Max" to locate the service (and searches such as "Find Game of Thrones" will locate the content in HBO Max).
- Notably, HBO Max went to launch in May without support on Fire TV or on Roku - two of the key emerging gatekeepers to the streaming TV world. And predictably, the service has drawn some criticism for not drawing subscribers as quickly as other rivals in the past year (such as Disney Plus).
- The deal will provide an immediate bump to HBO Max, as Amazon has said it had about 5M subs to HBO through Prime Video Channels, Todd Spangler notes. But Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) is still out there, with 46M active accounts that don't yet have direct access to HBO Max.
- Premarket: T +0.9%, AMZN -0.5%.