HBO will no longer be available via the Amazon Channels section of the Prime Video app or on the Fire TV devices. The move is part of AT&T’s strategy to simplify its video streaming business as it moves completely out of that side of the industry. HBO and the rest of the Warner Media family of Networks, which make up HBO Max, will be sold to Discovery Networks once a massive deal is fully approved.
AT&T CFO Pascal Desroches said the Amazon move was a “strategic decision” made by its WarnerMedia unit. WarnerMedia wants to focus on HBO Max and is trying to convert its HBO subscribers to the newer direct-to-consumer streaming service.
HBO Max is currently marketed both as a free add-on service for HBO customers as well as a way to access HBO programming and other content from across the Warner Media family without the need to have a traditional cable package. HBO’s numerous apps such as HBO Go and HBO Now and the later temporary HBO apps have all been converted to reflect HBO Max across platforms with a way to sign in both via a TV provider and as an outside subscriber.
