AT&T (T 2.09%) division WarnerMedia and YouTube, part of Alphabet's (GOOG 0.33%) (GOOGL 0.24%) Google, jointly announced a new partnership on Thursday. WarnerMedia's HBO and Cinemax customers can now buy and access their subscriptions through YouTube TV.
When HBO Max launches in May, YouTube TV customers will also be able to purchase and pay for that stand-alone streaming service through Google, although they'll still view that content outside of YouTube TV's interface.
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The pairing epitomizes the next chapter of the streaming revolution. In their infancy, streaming services like Netflix were bought from the company directly and accessed using an app or web browser. As competition has mounted, however, more streaming services are being made available by platform providers such as Roku or Amazon.com. In addition to its own or licensed content, Amazon's Prime also sells and airs streaming content from third party providers like ViacomCBS, which offers a stand-alone streaming service called CBS All Access.
YouTube TV -- a robust, internet-based alternative to traditional cable television -- already offers its two million customers access to a great deal of WarnerMedia entertainment, including programming from TBS, CNN, Cartoon Network, TNT, and more within its channel lineup. HBO and Cinemax will be new premium additions, however, and YouTube TV is the first announced reseller of HBO Max.
Terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but typically a reseller of digital apps and streaming content collects on the order of 30% of any business it may generate for creator. That amount is pared back to around 15% for renewed subscriptions, though even then the partnership could represent low-effort incremental revenue for Google's YouTube platform.
