HBO saying goodbye to Amazon Prime

On Sept. 15, Amazon Prime members will no longer be able to access HBO via the Prime Video Channels service, which provides, for an additional cost, content from a host of channels. (Each channel comes with a monthly charge above and beyond the $119 annual Amazon Prime membership fee.)

In an email to Amazon Prime members earlier this month, the tech giant announced that HBO had opted out of Prime Video Channels, which still offers a plethora of other movie-centric channels, among them Cinemax, Showtime, Starz and Hallmark Movies Now.

The email said that Prime members who subscribed to HBO via Prime Video Channels would have their subscription canceled and, if any refund from the subscription is due, their account prorated automatically.

HBO’S departure from Prime Video Channels follows the unveiling in May 2020 of HBO’S own HBO Max streaming service, which is solely devoted to the channel’s own content.

In a story posted on Bloomberg, the decision, which cost HBO about 5 million customers, was attributed to the company’s desire to connect with customers without intermediaries such as Amazon.

“It’s important for us to own the customer,” HBO Max general manager Andy Forssell told Bloomberg.

HBO Max is available for $9.99 (with ads) or $14.99 (without ads) per month. The streaming service can be viewed on TV, computer and gaming devices, including Amazon Fire TV and Tablet.

CNBC reported last November that HBO’S planned departure from Prime Video Channels was part of an agreement to make HBO Max accessible on Amazon Fire TV.

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