It only took half a year for them to get their acts together, but they finally did it: WarnerMedia media and Amazon have struck a deal that will bring HBO Max to Amazon Fire TV users beginning Tuesday, November 17. WarnerMedia’s Monday morning announcement was met with a resounding chorus of, “Oh yeah, that was still an issue, wasn’t it?” Better confoundingly late than never, we always say.
Those who are currently enjoying their HBO content through Amazon Prime will get to log onto the HBO Max platform via their Amazon credentials at no additional cost. The HBO app on Amazon Fire TV and related tablets will automatically update to become the HBO Max app. Meanwhile, all existing customers will be a able to access the platform on their Fire products, regardless of which credentials they use to access the content. New customers can subscribe to the service directly through the app.
“Our continued goal is to make HBO Max and its unparalleled content available to customers across all the devices they love,” said Tony Goncalves, head of sales and distribution for WarnerMedia, in the recent press release. “Fire TV is a favorite among customers and we look forward to working with the Amazon team to engage and grow our existing subscriber base by showcasing all that HBO Max has to offer.”
Another “favorite among customers” is Roku, which remains one of the more popular streaming aggregators on the market. To date, HBO Max is still not directly available on related devices. (Though according to Variety, users with a certain Roku model can access the platform via an Apple Airplay workaround.) Both parties have claimed a desire to strike some sort of agreement, so hopefully this late-arriving deal will inspire some movement for the left-behind Roku Nation.