The upcoming HBO Max streaming service will be free for existing HBO subscribers -- if they're also signed up with AT&T.
The service will be provided free of charge to AT&T customers subscribing to the carrier's wireless phone service, as well as DirecTV subscribers. AT&T Chief Operating Officer John Stankey announced HBO Max would be provided free to its customers in an interview with Reuters on Friday.
HBO Max is slated to include all of HBO's current programming, plus exclusive original content and classic television shows. The new service will compete with existing streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime, as well as the upcoming Apple TV+ and Disney+.
AT&T's move marks the company's attempt to lock in its share of the growing streaming video market by making HBO Max available to its ten million customers. The company hopes to have 80 million subscribers worldwide by 2025. The cost of the service for non-AT&T customers has yet to be announced.
The competition is already impacting content on existing services. Among other shifts, the '90s era sitcom Friends is moving from Netflix to HBO Max, and Marvel Studios series such as Daredevil and Jessica Jones, once Netflix staples, will likely find a new home on parent company's Disney+.
HBO Max is set to launch in the spring of 2020.