After what feels like a very long wait, HBO Max has finally arrived in the UK, and anyone can now sign up and subscribe. As an eligible Sky customer, I get access to “HBO Max Basic with Ads” at no extra cost. There are also upgrade options available, including Standard, Premium, and a TNT Sports bundle if you want more from the service like ad free or 4K. From what I understand, eligible NOW customers can also access the “Basic with Ads” tier.
Getting set up was straightforward. I started from the Sky Stream home screen and chose the web-based sign-up route, which felt like the quickest option. Within about five minutes, I had an HBO Max account linked and ready to go with Sky.
While Sky customers now get access to a broader range of content and a new way to watch HBO shows, there are a few trade-offs. For example, you can’t skip ads on HBO shows through the app unless you upgrade to a Standard plan (for ad free). On the flip side, this is content we might otherwise have lost entirely on Sky, including major upcoming titles like the new Harry Potter series expected later this year. Ad-free plans start from £9.99, or you can pay the difference to upgrade from the included tier (if on Sky), although I’m not convinced I’ll be doing that just yet.
Looking at the current film/show line-up, there’s a lot to like. We enjoy a good medical drama, so The Pitt might be worth a try. Overall, I can see the appeal and understand why HBO Max is likely to be popular, even if I’ve never been a huge HBO viewer myself. One thing to note is that on the included free tier for Sky subscribers, some newer films (such as Superman) sit behind higher subscription levels. That said, shows like The White Lotus are available, which is a plus.
The app itself runs well on Sky Stream and loads quickly, although the ads did feel fairly frequent. It also raises an interesting question about the future of Discovery+, as some of that content now also appears within HBO Max.
A definite bonus is that, as a Sky customer, I can also log into HBO Max on my iPhone and watch on the go without any issues using the app.
It’s still early days, so I’ll give it a proper trial before making any final judgements. Expect an update very soon.
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