HBO Max Is Finally Coming To Amazon Fire TV Devices

"Alexa, open HBO Max."

Roughly six months after its launch, WarnerMedia's streaming platform HBO Max is finally making its debut on Amazon Fire TV devices starting this week. This rollout on a widely used streaming device will make HBO Max available to tens of millions of new customers. And it leaves HBO Max with one final major barrier: Roku.

WarnerMedia announced Monday that HBO Max will begin rolling out on Amazon Fire TV streaming devices, Fire TV Edition smart TVs, and Fire tablets on Tuesday, November 17, bringing HBO Max to Amazon's millions of customers about six months after the streaming platform first launched in May.

Where before, Amazon customers only had access to HBO, they'll now get to dive into HBO Max's ridiculously stacked collection of titles, including those from Warner Bros., DC, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Turner Classic Movies, and Studio Ghibli. The HBO app on Fire TV and Fire tablets will automatically update to become the HBO Max app. HBO Max will also be compatible with the entire Fire TV line-up including the new Fire TV Stick and Fire TV Stick Lite, and of course, Amazon Alexa.

Under the new deal with Amazon, existing HBO subscribers who purchased the subscription through Amazon's Prime Video Channels will have access to HBO Max at no additional cost. New customers can also subscribe to HBO Max directly in the app, and additionally, all existing HBO Max customers, regardless of whether they subscribe to Amazon, can now access all of HBO Max via supported Fire TV and Fire tablet devices using their existing provider credentials.

"We are very excited that Amazon customers will now be able to enjoy the best-in-class content that lives within HBO Max," said Tony Goncalves, Head of Sales and Distribution for WarnerMedia, in a statement. "Our continued goal is to make HBO Max and its unparalleled content available to customers across all the devices they love. Fire TV is a favorite among customers and we look forward to working with the Amazon team to engage and grow our existing subscriber base by showcasing all that HBO Max has to offer.

Amazon Fire TV is the most used streaming media player family in the U.S., and its absence from the streaming devices were a major barrier for HBO Max's reach — making it hard for the new streaming platform to compete with other competitors like fellow newcomer Disney+, let alone giants like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon's own Prime Video. But HBO Max by far has the best library of all streaming services, including Netflix, which tens of millions of Fire TV and Roku users weren't able to access due to WarnerMedia's tangled distribution negotiations. Per The Hollywood Reporter, the previously launched HBO Go and HBO Now apps were treated like channels by Amazon and sold through the company's a la cart subscription offering. But the conflict arose when WarnerMedia wanted HBO Max to be treated like a standalone service like Netflix or Disney+, resulting in these long, drawn-out negotiations that led to HBO Max being unavailable on Fire TV for months. The confusing branding (HBO? HBO Go?) didn't help.

But this debut on Amazon Fire TV devices suggest that an HBO Max rollout on Roku, the last major streaming device, is on its way.