Inflation has hit many Americans hard, and if people are cutting on food expenses and dining out less, it is understandable that they are also cutting down on nonessential expenses such as entertainment. 

While one might assume that traditional cable and satellite TV are increasingly being replaced by streaming services — only because streaming is a more convenient way to enjoy movies, shows, news, and sports — that assumption isn’t entirely true.

Cable and satellite costs have risen for decades, a key factor contributing to cord‑cutting, according to a recent survey by All About Cookies. 

Key findings on cord-cutting

• Less than 30% of Americans still use traditional cable or satellite TV services.  
• Nearly 64% of cord-cutters dropped a streaming service in the past year due to rising costs or switched to a cheaper or ad-supported plan.
• Only 5% of cord-cutters regret the switch from cable.
• Americans subscribe to 3.4 streaming services on average, and over a quarter (27%) subscribe to five or more. The average amount people spend on streaming subscriptions is $48.13 per month. Source: All About Cookies 

Simultaneously, as the number of cord-cutters grows, the number of streamers increases, and the competition among the major streaming providers is heating up. 

Price remains to be a major factor for many subscribers, and the majority surveyed by Forbes confirm they would cut services if prices increased.  

Amid all the aggressive competition between top streaming providers, several giants have recently announced important upgrades to retain old and attract new subscribers. For example, YouTube TV has just confirmed the launch of more than 10 genre-specific packages, aiming to provide more choice and flexibility to subscribers. 

In the most recent development, HBO Max announced a major upgrade for many of its U.S. customers. 

HBO Max launches curated channels running “Friends,” Harry Potter movies, “Game of Thrones,” and more 24/7.

Image source: Shutterstock

HBO Max launches new curated channels running “Friends,” “Game of Thrones”

HBO Max announced on Dec. 12 that it has launched curated channels featuring themed binge-worthy shows. The specially curated themed channels will be available for select HBO Max users’ adult profiles across all subscription tiers.

The popular titles from the HBO Max portfolio include: “Friends,” the Harry Potter movies, “Game of Thrones,” and much more. 

Curated channels were designed to make the streaming service even more convenient, enabling users to seamlessly enter a continuous feed of curated episodes from fan-favorite shows, while allowing them to easily find a preferred episode. 

 Channels available on HBO Max at launch include: 

• “The Big Bang Theory”: Bazinga! Every nerd-centric episode.
• DC: Enter the DC Universe featuring your favorite heroes, villains, and sidekicks.
• “Friends”: All 10 seasons of the beloved sitcom, all the time.
• Harry Potter: The eight-film collection plus more from the wizarding world.
• Holiday Favorites: It’s always the season.
• Adult Animation: Popular adult animated series from fan favorites to recent hits.
• Middle-earth: Tolkien’s classic stories come to life across two epic trilogies.
• “Rick and Morty”: Every season of the multiverse-spanning adult animation series.
• “The Sopranos”: All seasons of the legendary HBO Original series and more.
• “Sex and the City”: Hit series about a writer and her friends navigating life and love in New York City and more.
• True Crime: Shocking documentaries ripped straight from the headlines.
• World of Westeros: An epic collection of stories from the Seven Kingdoms.  Source: Warner Bros. Discovery

When users tune into a channel, they’ll enter the episode playing at that moment, but they can use playback controls to start the next queued episode or to go back to the previous one. 

“The experience is designed for moments when users want a steady stream of fan favorites, without having to decide what to watch next. It offers another effortless way to explore and discover the iconic, robust library HBO Max has to offer,” stated Warner Bros. Discovery Product EVP Liesel Kipp in a press release. 

Industry observers note that curated channels are part of a larger trend in streaming to make discovery easier. As The Verge reported, the rollout is intended to reduce “decision fatigue, and let people watch ‘together’ from far away.”

Additionally, HBO Max’s original programming also offred titles such as: “IT: Welcome to Derry,” “I Love LA,” “The Chair Company,” “The Seduction,” and documentaries such as “Alex vs. ARod,” “Thoughts and Prayers,” and more. 

The streaming giant has also revealed exciting plans for 2026 with the following new series and new seasons of returning shows. 

New series: 

• “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms”
• “Half Man”
• “DTF St. Louis” and “Lanterns” 

New seasons: 

• “Industry”
• “Hacks”
• “The Pitt”
• “Euphoria”
• “House of the Dragon” 

HBO Max’s offerings also included a vast portfolio of movies from Warner Bros. Pictures, DC Studios, Turner Classic Movies, A24, Studio Ghibli, and more. 

Recent price hikes and other bad news for HBO Max subscribers 

The news about curated channels launch follows up on several recent updates, some of which were not what subscribers wanted to hear. 

In September, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav spoke at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference, during which he highlighted HBO Max’s growing popularity, but also suggested that the quality of the company’s motion picture and TV production is allowing the company to raise prices.

The last time Warner Bros. Discovery raised prices on its streaming service was in June 2024.

Quickly after Zaslav hinted at plans to hike prices, Warner Bros. Discovery confirmed it will remove its CNN offering. The news came about two years after the company added live CNN programming.

Alex MacCallum, CNN’s executive VP of digital products and services, commented on the decision, saying the collaboration was useful for CNN.

The decision to remove CNN programming from HBO Max is connected to CNN’s plan to launch a new direct-to-consumer streaming offering later this year. 

Many HBO Max subscribers were frustrated with the news, while another group argued that CNN is not a valuable addition to their HBO Max subscription. 

More Streaming:

• Amazon Prime Video introduces major free upgrade for US subscribers
• CNN makes generous limited-time offer to subscribers
• Popular streaming service sees key feature go dark for some subscribers

Despite recent changes, Warner Bros. Discovery has not lost subscribers. On the contrary, this year has been successful for the company’s streaming service in terms of the number of subscribers. 

In the Q3 2025 earnings report, the company reported 128.0 million subscribers, up 2.3 million quarter over quarter. While these are not the number of HBO Max subscribers only, but rather a total number of subscribers across all of Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming services, it is an important metric for the company. 

It remains to be seen what will happen with its customer base if the deal to be acquired by Netflix proceeds. Meanwhile, HBO Max is aiming to please and attract many subscribers.

“Friends,” Harry Potter franchise, “Game of Thrones” have millions of fans 

There are just some shows that make viewers fall in love with the characters, and get hooked on the story lines and the regular doses of laughter, intrigue, and magic. For me, the two comedy shows I can watch over and over and never get bored are “Frasier” and “Seinfeld.” 

There are others, but the two just top my list when it comes to sitcoms. 

One show that has won the hearts of people around the world is “Friends.” It’s one of those types of shows that allows you to tune in again at any season, and burst out laughing at Chandler’s ironic jokes or Phoebe’s quirks. 

It is hard to assess how many fans “Friends” has around the world, but even the number of U.S. viewers who watched the series finale speaks volumes about its popularity. According to The New York Times, the final episode was watched by 52.5 million viewers. 

“The ‘Friends’ finale ranks behind the finales of only ‘M*A*S*H’ on CBS in 1983 (106 million viewers), ‘Cheers’ on NBC in 1993 (80.4 million), and ‘Seinfeld’ on NBC in 1998 (76.3 million),” wrote Bill Carter for The New York Times in 2004. 

When it comes to the beloved Harry Potter movies, it’s even harder to estimate a global fan base, due to the popularity of the books alone. By 2018, the original seven books, along with three companion volumes, sold more than 500 million copies worldwide in dozens of languages, according to official franchise reporting.

“Game of Thrones” is another cultural sensation that managed to attract a record viewership on HBO and that maintains a broad, active, and international fan base. 

“By season seven, the average viewer numbers had grown to 32.8 million per episode across all platforms. The series finale was viewed by 19.3 million people across HBO’s platforms, becoming the network’s most watched episode,” writes Warner Bros. Fandom. 

Considering the large fan bases for many of these beloved shows, HBO Max has definitely made a major move to please the nostalgic audience.

Related: Key streaming service drops generous offer for its subscribers