Benzinga | Jun 2, 2021 11:26AM EDT

HBO Max Launches Lower Ad Frequency Options

* AT&T Inc's (NYSE:T) HBO Max platform introduced an advertising-supported subscription tier for $9.99 per month. Users will have the existing ad-free monthly subscription option at $14.99.

* HBO Max promised to offer the lowest commercial ad load in the streaming industry to four minutes each hour.

* "Advertising is a time-tested way to reduce the cost of great entertainment and reach a wider audience," said EVP & General Manager, HBO Max, Andy Forssell.

* Comcast Corp's (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Peacock and Discovery Inc's (NASDAQ:DISCA) Discovery+ offer five minutes of ads per hour or less, Bloomberg reports.

* Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) offers an ad-free streaming service.

* HBO's ad-supported tier costs $9.99 per month. The commercial-free version costs $14.99 per month. Subscribers can also get a discount for an upfront one-year subscription.

* Netflix costs $14 in the U.S., while The Walt Disney Co's (NYSE:DIS) streaming option is priced at just $8. AT&T has been counting on the lower-cost ad-supported option to promote HBO Max.

* The ad-supported tier will not feature Warner Bros. 2021 film debut on HBO Max on the same day of the theatrical release. The ad-supported version will not support the download of shows for offline viewing. However, both versions will be free of ads during HBO original shows.

* Last month AT&T agreed to the $43 billion merger deal between its WarnerMedia division and Discovery.

* Price action: T shares traded lower by 0.29% at $29.24 on the last check Wednesday.