HBO Max: WarnerMedia in Talks With Roku on Deal, Amazon Fire TV Appears to Be a No-Go

With seven days to go before HBO Max launches, Roku and WarnerMedia are racing to hammer out a deal to get the super-size streamer on Roku’s popular over-the-top TV platform. But sorry, Amazon Fire TV owners: It appears that HBO Max will not be there for you on May 27.

WarnerMedia and Roku are currently in negotiations on a pact for HBO Max, a Roku spokesperson confirmed to Variety.

The main sticking point on a HBO Max/Roku agreement likely revolves around how big a cut of subscription fees Roku will take. After Roku’s installed base nearly doubled the last two years — from 20.8 million in Q1 2018 to 38.9 million as of March 2020 — the company has aggressively sought more favorable terms in renewing distribution deals with content providers.

In a statement, the Roku rep said, “As the No. 1 streaming platform in the U.S. with over 40 million active accounts that rely upon Roku to access their favorite programs and to discover new content, we are focused on entering into win-win distribution agreements with all new OTT services as part of their launch strategies. While we don’t typically comment on specific deal terms or negotiations, the fact is that in this instance while we believe that HBO Max would benefit greatly from distribution on Roku at launch, we do not currently have an agreement in place.”

A WarnerMedia spokesperson told Variety there was “nothing new to report” vis-a-vis a deal for HBO Max on Roku.

Note that Roku has engaged in hardball tactics in the recent past: This February, Roku and Fox Corp. inked a last-minute deal to keep Fox’s channels on the OTT platform in time for Super Bowl LIV.

WarnerMedia’s HBO Max talks with Amazon, meanwhile, could be at an impasse. At an investment conference on May 13, AT&T incoming CEO John Stankey said, “I’m pleased to say we’re going to be in virtually all app stores” with HBO Max at launch — with “maybe one exception. It looks like we may not be in the Amazon Fire app store when all of this is said and done.”

So far, WarnerMedia has completed several key deals for HBO Max, including with Disney’s Hulu, Apple, Charter Communications’s Spectrum, Google and YouTube TV. HBO Max subscriptions also are also available directly, as well as from AT&T (WarnerMedia’s parent), which is bundling HBO Max free for high-end service tiers.

Besides Roku and Amazon, big distributors still missing from HBO Max’s launch matrix are Comcast and Dish Network/Sling TV (although HBO has been dark on Dish since November 2018 so that seems like a nonstarter).

Amid the scramble to secure distributors, WarnerMedia earlier this month introduced a new HBO Max promotional pricing offer for direct-billed subscribers: The promo rate of $11.99 per month for one year (20% less than the regular $14.99/month) is available up until the May 27 launch date for new and returning HBO Now subs. Even at the discounted rate, WarnerMedia may net slightly more per-subscriber revenue than if someone pays for the service through partners — which each keep a percentage of the subscription fee.

HBO Max promises a whopping 10,000 hours of content to stream right away. That will include all the programming on HBO; a slate of new originals; third-party licensed content like full seasons of “Friends,” “The Big Bang Theory,” “South Park,” “Sesame Street,” and “Pretty Little Liars”; all of the films from Japan’s famed Studio Ghibli; and movies from Warner Bros., New Line and DC like “Joker,” “Suicide Squad,” “Wonder Woman,” “The Matrix,” “Casablanca” and “The Wizard of Oz.”

In addition, HBO Max will carry content from other WarnerMedia brands including CNN, TNT, TBS, truTV, Turner Classic Movies, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Crunchyroll, Rooster Teeth and Looney Tunes.