Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Max has decided not to move forward with its plan to charge an additional $10 per month for its sports and news add-on.
- The add-on includes access to B/R Sports, which streams over 1,700 live games and events annually, and CNN Max, the platform’s dedicated news streaming service.
- Starting March 30, users on the ad-supported subscription tier will lose access to B/R Sports and CNN Max unless they upgrade to an ad-free plan.
Warner Bros. Discovery is backing away from its previously announced plan to charge Max subscribers an extra $10 per month for sports and news content. Instead, the company is shifting its approach, cutting access to these features from its ad-supported tier starting next month while keeping them free for ad-free subscribers. (h/t: Engadget)
Max originally introduced the Bleacher Report (B/R) Sports Add-On in 2023, offering it at no extra cost with the promise that a $10 fee would be introduced in February 2024. However, that deadline came and went without any pricing changes. Reports last fall suggested that Warner Bros. Discovery was still considering the fee, but the company has now confirmed that it won’t be moving forward with that plan, at least for the time being.
This is good news for Max subscribers who pay for either of Max’s ad-free plans. For those on Max’s ad-supported tier, the upcoming change means losing access to B/R Sports and CNN Max after March 30. The company is clearly hoping at least some of its ad-supported subscribers will upgrade to a more expensive plan to continue getting access to this content.
B/R Sports offers more than 1,700 live events annually, covering leagues like the NBA, MLB, NHL, NCAA, and NASCAR — though the platform’s NBA rights are set to expire after this season. Meanwhile, CNN Max represents Warner Bros. Discovery’s latest attempt at building a streaming presence for the news network after the ill-fated CNN Plus experiment.
This decision will likely be a relief for Max subscribers, but Warner Bros. Discovery has left the door open for future changes. The company’s statement carefully notes that it won’t introduce the extra charge “for now,” suggesting that the plan could still be revived down the line.
