On March 31st, a new streaming service is set to launch in Australia, poised to significantly impact the Australian media market. Max, owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, is the last of the major international streaming services to enter the Australian market, further intensifying the competition.
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03-29, 2025Many subscribers may view Max's offerings as a mere repetition of movies and shows already available on existing Australian streaming services. This is precisely what makes Max's launch so noteworthy. While it is a latecomer and indeed yet another streaming service (YASS), it also represents a troubling difference: Max aims to be more than just another streaming service, with many subscribers potentially using it to replace the Australian-owned service BINGE.
Since its launch, BINGE has positioned itself as the Australian home of HBO, the high-end, prestigious television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. HBO is synonymous with the best content in television, boasting hits like "The Sopranos," "Game of Thrones," "Sex and the City," "The White Lotus," and "The Last of Us." However, with Max's arrival, all these shows will disappear from the BINGE streaming service, becoming exclusive to Max. In effect, Max *is* HBO's streaming service. It will also feature other popular Warner Bros. television shows like "The Big Bang Theory," "Rick and Morty," and "Friends," as well as a large selection of Discovery reality shows.
The streaming service competition in Australia truly began about 10 years ago. Nine Network took the lead by launching Stan to get into the market before the then-forthcoming Netflix. Stan focused on original Australian programming and films, showing strong resilience in a market where all its well-funded international competitors had secured a large amount of popular new shows. Just two months after Stan's launch, Netflix followed, making a significant impact. It had already launched widely popular original series such as "House of Cards" (although we rarely talk about this show now due to the public downfall of its star, Kevin Spacey) and "Orange Is the New Black." Since then, we've seen other international companies such as Disney with Disney+, Amazon with its member perk Prime Video, and Paramount with Paramount+ launch services locally.
At launch, Max will offer a large portion of Warner Bros. Discovery's channels, including HBO, Warner Bros., Discovery, Cartoon Network (such as "Looney Tunes" and "The Powerpuff Girls"), TLC, ID, and HGTV. It also includes brands such as Harry Potter, DC Comics superheroes (including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash), and "Game of Thrones." Notably, it does not appear to include any content from CNN, which is also owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The US Max streaming service offers a live stream of CNN and some sports content, but this has not been added to any other international regions where Max has launched. Whether this will change in time will depend on whether CNN is sold off, which most media analysts expect to happen in the next year or two.
A key draw for Max at launch will be the highly anticipated second season of "The Last of Us," premiering in mid-April. New seasons of "And Just Like That…" (the "Sex and the City" sequel), "House of the Dragon" (a "Game of Thrones" spin-off), "Euphoria," and "Peacemaker" are also promised later this year (or in the case of "Euphoria," 2026). Max is also promising a library of classic old Hollywood films from Turner Classic Movies (TCM). Titles expected to be included are "Casablanca," "The Wizard of Oz," "A Clockwork Orange," "Full Metal Jacket," and "Rebel Without a Cause." This won't be the first time Australia has received TCM content, with a branded TCM channel having previously existed on Foxtel. What is currently unclear is whether we will see a wide variety of old movies, or whether it will have a static small library of films that audiences will see over and over again, as was the case with the previous TCM channel.
Max's pricing is similar to other major streaming services. Some pricing tiers are slightly more expensive than Disney+, but slightly cheaper than Netflix. The pricing plans also provide users with similar access to what its competitors offer. Max offers a cheaper tier with ad support streamed in HD resolution, a standard tier also limited to HD, and a premium tier streamed in 4K resolution. To its credit, BINGE has always offered 4K resolution streaming in its standard plan, while most of its competitors, including Max, restrict 4K streaming to their most expensive plans. With the [average TV size in Australia being 50 inches](https://eftm.com/2024/10/big-screens-rule-in-9-years-tvs-have-grown-54-is-there-such-a-thing-as-a-tv-thats-too-big-256504) and growing, 4K streaming should be the default resolution, not an up-sell, if we want the image on our screens to be clear with limited blur.
The question is whether Australians are willing to pay for yet another streaming service. Many subscribers will likely view Max's launch as an opportunity to consider which services they are subscribing to and decide what value they are getting from them. But until now, even with increasing cost of living pressures on Australian households, the number of subscription services we pay for has continued to rise. Annual surveys of the local subscription video on demand market by Telsyte have shown subscriber growth for all but one leading streaming service. While more people are opting for cheaper, ad-supported plans, over 70% of subscribers now have more than one service. With the popular content that Max is offering, there's no indication it's entering a market that has no room to accommodate it.
BINGE will not be shutting down. It will continue to operate, but it's reasonable to say that there will be less high-profile television shows on the service, which could impact its subscriber numbers. European sports company DAZN is expected to complete its acquisition of BINGE's parent company, Foxtel, mid-year. A decline in subscriber numbers will put immense pressure on BINGE's viability, which is already adjacent to its new parent company's sports focus.
For BINGE, the loss of HBO content comes at the worst possible time. This follows BINGE losing an agreement in mid-2024 that gave it access to first-run BBC content. Its last big content deal is with NBCUniversal, which gives it access to well-known and popular shows such as "Law & Order." Industry insiders are watching this deal, which is believed to be up for renewal later this year. In the future, program acquisitions will be done more on a show-by-show basis. This means viewers may see more first-run dramas from North American and European independent productions. This isn't entirely a bad thing, and it will expand the types of shows available on streaming—but these are rarely the hit shows that audiences are looking for.
A current hit show on BINGE is "The White Lotus." Viewers watching the show on BINGE will continue to be able to watch the rest of the new episodes, with the final episode of the season airing on April 7. The season will continue to be available on BINGE for 30 days after the final episode airs. However, "The White Lotus" season three is non-exclusive and will also be available to watch on Max. Fans who enjoy "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" will continue to be able to watch the show on BINGE until the end of the season in late November. Unlike "The White Lotus," the show remains exclusive to BINGE, for now.
BINGE still has original content to fall back on—"Colin from Accounts" is a great example of just how good local comedy can be. This month, BINGE launched a new Australian BINGE original series, an adaptation of Liane Moriarty's limited series "The Last Anniversary." There's also the upcoming UK co-production "Mix Tape," starring Teresa Palmer, and the ongoing "Real Housewives of Sydney." If BINGE were to shut down, it would mean less Australian-made programming and would lead to the homogenization of content on our screens. BINGE may not have the highest volume of original shows, but its absence would be felt if it were to disappear.
The loss of HBO content to BINGE cannot be overstated. Access to HBO shows has been BINGE's selling point since its launch. Whether BINGE will be able to maintain subscriber interest without HBO content remains to be seen. As entertaining and informative as John Oliver is, having just him may not be enough.
