Max hikes price on ad-free tiers

Warner Bros. Discovery has raised the price for the ad-free tiers of Max, the premium streaming service that got off the ground in May 2023.

Max's new pricing, effective immediately, is as follows:

The ad-supported Max plan is unchanged at $9.99 per month or $99 per year.

Launched in May 2023, in the wake of the Discovery-Warner Media merger the year prior, Max effectively combined the former HBO Max service with Discovery+.

WBD did not elaborate on its decision to raise prices, but the increase comes ahead of the June 16 season two debut of "House of the Dragon," the "Game of Thrones" prequel series. However, a price hike on Max follows a general trend in the streaming world in which companies are focused on the pursuit of profits over sheer subscriber growth.

Max was profitable in 2023, a first for the premium streaming service. WBD expects it to remain that way in 2024.

Disney expects its streaming business to turn a profit in its fiscal Q4 of 2024.

Peacock, the NBCU streaming service launched in 2020, was expected to generate peak losses in 2023. It's not yet clear when Peacock, which is gearing up for streaming coverage of the summer Olympic Games in Paris, will turn the corner.