At first glance, the recent HBO Max news looked like bad news for Sky, but Sky has responded in the best way possible.
The TV giant has just announced a big upgrade to its Sky Ultimate package, which will now include the new HBO Max, Disney Plus and Hayu, on top of the existing Sky and Netflix content.
How much will this cost? A very reasonable-sounding £24 per month.
Consider that the basic Sky Essential package is £15 per month, and this £9 upgrade looks very tempting indeed.
There is a catch, though: the bundled Disney+ and HBO Max subscriptions will, like the current bundled Netflix subscription, be the basic, ad-supported versions.
So, as well as putting up with the adverts, you will also have to do without 4K, HDR and Dolby Atmos.
The good news is that you will still be able to upgrade to the premium versions of each service. You can do this via Sky, and you will only pay the cost of the upgrade. So even those of us who insist on the top quality will save £4.99 on their Disney subscriptions and £5.99 on HBO Max.
Existing subscribers to these platforms can port over their current accounts and still benefit, too.
All in, that makes the new £24 Sky Ultimate package look like very good value indeed.
There’s news for subscribers to Sky's adjacent Now services, too, which will also incorporate HBO Max as part of its £6.99 Entertainment package.
Finally, Sky teased that a new version of the Sky Go app is coming “later this year”. Details are scarce at this point, but the update will, of course, add the look and feel of Sky Glass and Stream’s Sky OS.
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Here's the story about HBO Max coming to the UK
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