HBO Max extends deal for subscribers kicked off Amazon Channels

WarnerMedia is doing some damage control to mitigate potential subscriber losses after earlier this week HBO became no longer available through Amazon Prime Video Channels.

Starting today, consumers who accessed HBO via Prime Video Channels, along with all new and returning HBO Max subscribers, can get the HBO Max ad-free plan for $7.49 per month (a 50% discount) for up to six months. The deal is available through HBOMax.com and through distribution partners including Apple, Google, LG, Microsoft, Sony, Roku and Vizio. The offer is only good in the U.S. and only available until September 26.

HBO left the Amazon Prime Video Channels store on September 15 and left behind approximately 5 million subscribers.

RELATED: HBO Max expects subscriber impact from Amazon Channels exit

The service has reportedly been working for a while now to get out of Amazon Channels and that negotiation was part of the reason why HBO Max was unavailable on Amazon Fire TV devices for much of 2020, according to a report last month from Bloomberg.

AT&T in August confirmed HBO’s exit from Amazon Prime Video Channels, which it called it a strategic decision made by WarnerMedia. It warned that there will be an impact on HBO Max and HBO domestic subscribers in the third quarter but that potential impact has already been considered into the company’s global subscriber guidance for the full year, which puts HBO and HBO Max at 70 million to 73 million global subscribers by the end of 2021.

AT&T CFO Pascal Desroches reiterated that guidance this week and said that most of the subscriber growth for HBO Max during the third quarter will come from international markets. The service has already launched in Latin America and the Caribbean and plans to add its first six European markets in October.

The changes for HBO come as AT&T is currently pursuing a deal to spin off and combine WarnerMedia—which includes HBO, Turner and Warner Bros.—with Discovery, Inc.