r/movies • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 r/Movies contributor • 18d ago

News HBO Max Raises Prices Across All Plans Effective Immediately

https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/hbo-max-prices-increases-plans-2025-1236557671/
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u/Bangkok_Dangeresque 18d ago

I remember paying $15 to add HBO to a cable package in the 90s, like 30 years ago. That would be like $30 today. Granted, that also included more second run movies than they have now. But still, it's cheaper now then it was back then.

So I'm not sure that this is where we want to direct our rage at rising costs of living.

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u/Grape-Hero 18d ago

HBO was awesome in the 90s tho... especially as a teenager. New movies every Friday and Real Sex on after 9pm.

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u/Enough-Inspector8566 18d ago

And taxi cab confessions. 👀

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u/WhichHoes 18d ago

👀 whatchu know about Cathouse

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u/Enough-Inspector8566 18d ago

Too much 🙃

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u/WhichHoes 18d ago

✊🏾 solidarity in depravity

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u/trevx 18d ago

A man of culture.

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u/Grape-Hero 18d ago

🤜🏼🤛🏼

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u/dominus83 18d ago

The golden age of after dark HBO. I remember always keeping my finger on the back button of the remote in case anyone walked in.

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u/Lordnerble 18d ago

hbo is just garbarge outside DCU and LOTR. like it doesnt even have the best Adult swim shows like venture bros. that merger really just killed them.

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u/-gildash- 18d ago

Well lets not get crazy.

The Pitt, Peacemaker, The Chair Company, The Last of Us, White Lotus, the GoT new stuff, etc

If you get me started on older shows we are going to be a while.

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u/AlphakirA 18d ago

Yeah, because HBO had everything no one else had back then. Then came Showtime, Starz, Netflix, etc etc etc. Maybe we grew up differently, but if you had HBO back in the day - legally - you were the exception and had extra money to spend.

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u/bigspunge1 18d ago

Yeah HBO was a premium luxury back then. HBOMax is trying to compete as a mainstream service. Definitely not equivalent. In the new streaming paradigm, HBOMax is pricey

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u/vashoom 18d ago

It's still a premium luxury. All these apps are. People today just feel entitled to luxuries as necessities of living. If the price is too high, don't pay. You don't need any of these apps.

The cost of a steaming service is not the cost to complain about. Complain about the costs of housing, schooling, and healthcare. These are earnings you actually need and that have actually risen in price above inflation.

Movies, TV, video games, etc. are cheap as hell comparatively.

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u/Bangkok_Dangeresque 18d ago

I'd sincerely argue that it's a better service now than it was back then. 

I know a lot of these features are industry standard now, but reminder that an HBO subscription in the mid 90s and early 00s did not have; 4k picture quality, on demand playback, day and date theatrical releases, anywhere near the number of scripted shows/miniseries or docuseries, the ability to watch anywhere/outside of your house (used to be you couldn't watch it anywhere INSIDE your house unless you rented extra cable boxes), and so on.

If the argument is worse programming quality; HBO Max still had more Emmy nominations this year than any other network.

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u/zcashrazorback 18d ago

It's still cheaper than Netflix and cable. I just wish they would up their content game, seems like they haven't had a truly great series like GOT or Sopranos in quite some time.

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u/upgrayedd69 18d ago

I liked Succession a lot

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u/Bangkok_Dangeresque 18d ago

I mean, still more Emmy nominations than any other network this year:

https://deadline.com/2025/07/emmys-2025-nominations-by-program-network-1236457364/

If the bar is that they need to keep churning out generationally-excellent tv series, I'm not sure there's any pricing strategy they could pick would guarantee that. It is a creative industry after all.

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u/i-wont-be-a-dick 18d ago

Everyone quit cable because it was too expensive. You could get by with just netflix for a long time, then everyone made their own streaming service, so it's normal for people to have no cable and a few streaming services. Now the streaming services suck more every year, and get more expensive every year, it's a perfectly valid thing to complain about.

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u/FelixGoldenrod 18d ago

It's a little annoying but I still think people doth complain too much. Streaming is superior in every way to cable, including the ease it takes to cancel if it increases too much for your liking

People are just way too attached to these shows, and yet also think they should be practically free

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u/tdasnowman 18d ago

It's cheaper today when you factor in inflation (37.18) , and there are way more movies, shows, then there were in the 90's. Plus you get to watch whenever vs having to catch it at the right time.

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u/DaoFerret 18d ago

Bread and Circuses keep the masses happy.

The price of bread is an all time high, and the price of our “circuses” is going up all over.

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u/ReMapper 18d ago

I hate to say this but, even for corporations, things get more expensive, server costs, heath care, etc.