Roku, Amazon Comment on HBO Max Not Being Available Yet On Their Devices

HBO Max is now available but Roku and Amazon Fire devices are out in the cold, and the devices’ companies have issued statements on the matter. The latest streaming platform arrived on Wednesday, replacing HBO Now on many providers such as AT&T, Apple, Google, YouTube TV, Hulu, Charter, Cox, Verizon, Xbox One, and PlayStation. However, being signed up through Roku Channels or Amazon Prime through HBO does not grant HBO Max access, nor can you watch on their devices.

Both companies have now issued statements on the matter, courtesy of CNet. Roku’s statement indicates that it is simply a matter of time before an agreement is reached, while Amazon takes a more aggressive tack that places the blame on HBO for not making HBO Max available to subscribers of HBO through Amazon Prime.

Roku’s statement reads:

“As the No. 1 streaming platform in the US we believe that HBO Max would benefit greatly from the scale and content marketing capabilities available with distribution on our platform. We are focused on mutually positive distribution agreements with all new (over-the-top) services that will deliver a quality user experience to viewers in the more than 40 million households that choose Roku to access their favorite programs and discover new content. Unfortunately, we haven’t reached an agreement yet with HBO Max. While not on our platform today, we look forward to helping HBO Max in the future successfully scale their streaming business.”

Meanwhile, Amazon said in their statement:

“With seamless customer experience, nearly 5 million HBO streamers currently access their subscription through Amazon’s Prime Video Channels. Unfortunately, with the launch of HBO Max, AT&T is choosing to deny these loyal HBO customers access to the expanded catalog. We believe that if you’re paying for HBO, you’re entitled to the new programming through the method you’re already using. That’s just good customer service and that’s just a priority for us.”

A spokeswoman for WarnerMedia said that although the company is “thrilled that HBO Max is widely available at launch,” the goal is “to make HBO Max available on every platform possible to as many viewers globally as possible. We look forward to reaching agreements with the few outstanding distribution partners left, including with Amazon and on par with how they provide customers access to Netflix, Disney Plus and Hulu on Fire devices.”

You can check out 411’s review of HBO Max here.