As WarnerMedia gears up for the release of a planned ad model for its recently launched HBO Max product, its parent company has reportedly run into a number of problems—including the fact that absolutely no one wants ads on premium content, including some of HBO’s business partners.
Citing sources familiar with the matter, the Information reported that WarnerMedia parent AT&T has run into massive issues with its ambitions of bringing a cheaper ad-supported tier to the HBO Max service, which combines all of WarnerMedia’s content with HBO’s legacy content, licensed movies, and new originals. The problem appears to be existing agreements with cable distributors as well as studios who have licensing deals with HBO under the specific condition that content remains ad-free.