Max has launched in Australia, here’s everything you need to know including the downside

After literal years of speculation and rumours that Warner Bros would launch its streaming service in Australia, the day is here.

Max is now live in Australia, and it’s new home to all of HBO’s shows as well as Warner Bros’ wide library which includes classic films, franchises such as Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings, and even the old Looney Tunes cartoons.

It’s been so long in the making, in that time, Warner Bros merged with Discovery, another media business, and the streaming app’s name in the US changed a bunch of times, from HBO Now to HBO Max to just Max.

Here’s everything you need to know.

WHAT CAN I WATCH?

In a similar way to how Foxtel and Binge used to be the home of most HBO titles, that now goes to Max. This includes the undisputed gems such as The Sopranos, The Wire, Veep and Succession, as well upcoming seasons of The Last of Us, Euphoria, The Rehearsal and And Just Like That.

New shows to come this year include another Game of Thrones spin-off, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, an IT spin-off, IT: Welcome to Derry, a series from I May Destroy You creator and star Michaela Coel called First Day on Earth, plus J.J. Abrams first TV series in many years, Duster.

Looking further ahead is the Harry Potter reboot series, the James Gunn-led DC show Lanterns and the fourth season of Industry.

Beyond HBO, Max draws from Warner Bros’ extensive library. On the TV side, that includes series such as Big Bang Theory, Gilmore Girls, ER, The West Wing, Gossip Girl and The Mentalist, as well as adult animation such as Rick and Morty (which had left Netflix some months back) and Harley Quinn.

On the movies side, it has the DC Comics library such as the Christopher Nolan and Tim Burton Batman movies, plus Barbie, Twisters, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, The Hangover, Wonka, Crazy Rich Asians, the Conjuring franchise and Zodiac.

Although, putting the Sex and the City movie under the “critically acclaimed” carousel is taking the piss.

The highlight of the Max movie library though has to be its Turner Classic Movies (TCM) sb-brand. Here is where you’ll find veritable classics such as Singin’ in the Rain, Dial M for Murder, North by Northwest, Rebel Without a Cause, The Maltese Falcon, Mrs Miniver, The Philadelphia Story, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Gaslight, The Big Sleep and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf.

With streamers geared towards post-1990 movie releases, it’s not always easy to find old cinema on a subscription streaming service which leads to a loss of collective cultural memory, especially in younger generations.

There are also titles from the Discovery side of the business including Food Network, reality TV brand TLC, HGTV and ID for those more downmarket programs such as Dr Pimple Popper and 90 Day Fiance.

Some existing movies and TV shows will be made available over the next month. For example, Friends, Dune, The Batman and Elvis will drop tomorrow while all three seasons of HBO series The Leftovers will be released on April 16.

BUT THERE’S A DOWNSIDE

Weirdly, there is a catch to the HBO library moving from Binge to Max. In late-2022, as Warner Bros and Discovery were merging their two streaming platforms, a raft of HBO shows and movies were removed from the digital library.

Some of them were stripped off for tax write-down purposes while others were onsold to other platforms such as FAST channels. This had been a US thing, and was decried at the time as an act of corporate bastardry at the expense of artists and audiences.

The titles included Westworld, The Nevers, Genera+ion, Here and Now, Raised by Wolves, An American Pickle, Mrs Fletcher and The Time Traveler’s Wife. Australia wasn’t immediately affected and those titles remained on Binge until licencing agreements sporadically expired over the past two-and-a-half years.

Westworld was still on Binge until it was removed yesterday due to the Max launch but Westworld isn’t on Max today, and none of those other culled titles are either. Max confirmed they won’t be added later.

Some of these including Westworld and An American Pickle are available to buy on Apple and Google, but others such as the excellent Kathryn Hahn-starring Mrs Fletcher and sci-fi series Raised by Wolves are not. The Nevers and The Time Traveler’s Wife is still on Binge.

There are also some Max-branded original shows that aren’t on the platform due to licencing agreements.

For example, the brilliant Jean Smart comedy Hacks will remain on Stan, which will also have its upcoming fourth season starting on April 11 while Made for Love, which was culled from the US library, is also on Stan.

The Gilded Age, which is HBO-branded in the US, is on Paramount+ in Australia.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?

Max has three tiers, the basic plan which has ads, the standard subscription and a premium level.

There are launch discounts, which locks in a lower price for 12 months, whether you sign up monthly or annually, after which it reverts to the regular price.

For the basic with ads plan, the launch offer is $7.99 a month or $79.99 annually. The regular price will be $11.99 a month and $119.99 for the year.

On the standard plan, the launch price is $11.99 a month or $119.99 for the year. Thereafter it’ll be $15.99 a month or $159.99 for an annual subscription.

The premium tier’s launch price is $17.99 a month or $179.99 for the annual plan. The regular price will be $21.99 per month or $219.99 for the year.

DO I STILL KEEP MY BINGE SUBSCRIPTION?

This is the $4.99 question, isn’t it? Binge is currently doing deep discounting on its subscriptions, for as low as $4.99 a month for the next 12 months, but that’s the ad-tier.

It depends on your personal financial situation and how much you were using your Binge subscription for titles that weren’t HBO or Warner Bros movies. If you were only on Binge for HBO, then it’s hard to justify paying for both Max and Binge.

Depending on where you are on your monthly Binge billing cycle, don’t cancel straightaway if you’re still watching The White Lotus season three, The Pitt or The Righteous Gemstones season four, you can finish out the season on Binge. Those shows are also on Max.

Any HBO title that is in the middle of its current season will remain on Binge until 30 days after the finale. For example, The White Lotus’s finale will air on Monday, April 7, so those episodes will be there until May 6. However, seasons one and two have already left the platform.

But if you’re subscribed to Binge for a wide variety of reasons, then you may well decide it’s worth sticking around. There’s every season of The Great British Bake-Off as well as international spin-off versions including the Australian one. There are many seasons of Grand Designs and Escape to the Country.

There are Australian originals such as the just launched The Last Anniversary, an adaptation of a Liane Moriarty book, plus seasons of The Twelve, Colin From Accounts, Wentworth and Selling Houses.

Binge has a licencing deal with NBCUniversal, which gives it rights to some Peacock originals such as Small Town, Big Story, Laid and A.P. Bio as well older NBC sitcoms such as 30 Rock, The Office and Parks and Recreation.

One title that’s just hit Binge, and streaming for the first time in Australia, is Moonlighting, the Cybil Shepherd and Bruce Willis detective comedy-drama from the 1980s.