Will HBO Max Have Live TV? AT&T President Shares 'Re-Bundling' Plans

As Sony’s live TV service, PlayStation Vue, heads to the gutter in January, WarnerMedia CEO and AT&T President John Stankey will attempt to utilize the same bundling options on top of an already growing lineup for HBO Max content.

In a sit down with Recode, Stankey confessed to a multitude of visions he has with HBO Max and what he plans on creating through his streaming platform. He describes HBO Max live content as a literal restructuring of the streaming idea.

“We’re basically unbundling to rebundle,” he explained. "At some point, there will be platforms that re-aggregate and rebuild…We’d like [HBO Max] ultimately to be a place where re-aggregation occurs.”

At a costly rate of $14.99 a month, the HBO Max price point, in relation to its counterparts, remains relatively high. Yet, by combining original content with their own slate of IP, HBO Max will incentivize their service in a multitude of ways. Amazon Prime’s live TV options fulfill a similar strategy.

Though, at such a high price, HBO Max could potentially be offering far more than its counterparts, such as live TV. While Stankey didn't specifically comment on this concern, previous reports have alluded to the possibility of HBO Max live TV options.

The WarnerMedia streaming platform could see live TV in the form of sports and news, as AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson opined in a call with investors back in late July. Stephenson also described a "thin client product" in the form of the so-called trial service, AT&T TV, which could potentially be integrated into HBO Max content and bundled, as Stankey openly invites.

Current HBO audiences are questioning the differences between HBO Max vs. HBO Go, or HBO Max vs. HBO Now. Though, for those that already pay for an HBO service, there could be a way to get a free Max subscription.

Despite the confusion, Stankey’s vision of HBO Max is to combat “fragmentation,” as he calls it, in accordance with consumers and will attempt to bridge the gap between streaming, cable TV, and platform cohesiveness with the introduction of better bundling options.

AT&T has already funneled into HBO Max a whopping $4 billion, even after the telecommunications company spent $85 billion on acquiring Time Warner in the first place. Aside from a potential Green Lantern show, a “Friends” reunion, and “South Park,” little else is truly known about what sort of shows HBO Max content will contain, or if even AT&T TV will be available on the streaming service.

Given HBO’s hand in cable, AT&T sees potential in restructuring the platform for a wide berth of audiences, though roadblocks could persist in the form of alternate cable providers. Even so, Stankey envisions a whole new era of streaming content and live shows as 2020 draws ever-closer and HBO Max launches.