The HBO Max app is now supported by Cox Communications' Countour 2 and Contour Stream Player devices, the privately held cable operator said.
The Contour platform is a white-label version of Comcast’s Xfinity X1 video operating system, meaning voice control features are natively integrated into the HBO Max app. Cox noted that its customers can sign up for the $14.99-a-month WarnerMedia streaming service simply by saying “HBO Max” into their voice remote. The platform will support HBO Max’s movie playback in 4K Ultra HD, HDR 10, Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos.
Cox noted that the deployment on Contour comes in time for the March 18 release of the next big HBO Max tentpole movie, director Zach Snyder’s new cut of Justice League. Also, yet another WarnerMedia day-and-date feature, Godzilla vs. Kong, arrives March 31.
Notably, Comcast deployed HBO Max onto X1, as well as the thin-client platform based on X1 tech, Xfinity Flex, back in December.
Cox has just under 3.7 million remaining subscribers after losing around 215,000 in 2020, according to a recent Leitchtman Research Group estimate. It’s unclear as to how many of those customers use Contour tech.
Warner Media touted around 17.2 million customers having upgraded to the app-based HBO Max as of the end of Q4—a metric improved no doubt by gaining distribution on X1, as well as Roku and Amazon Fire TV, toward the end of 2020.
