- HBO Go is the current streaming service offered by HBO in Latin America;
- The partnership is certainly also aimed at increasing HBO’s user base in the region prior to the arrival of HBO Max in 2021.
Argentina-based e-commerce platform Mercado Libre and HBO Latin America announced a partnership that brings media content for users of the online marketplace in Brazil, Argentina and Mexico. Mercado Libre’s users will be able to subscribe to HBO Go, the current streaming service operated by the brand in the region, in an easier way and with discounts.
According to both firms, such discounts will vary depending on the amount of points each user has on Mercado Puntos, Mercado Libre’s loyalty program. Subscriptions made using the e-commerce platform may be paid using collection networks through Mercado Pago, dispensing with the need of credit or debit cards. The new offer will be available in the countries in the coming weeks. Details of prices and discount levels will be communicated in each country soon.
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As a result of the agreement, Mercado Libre users in the three Latin American countries will be able to access HBO titles on the HBO Go platform, including the most recent releases Perry Mason and Veronica Mars, awarded productions such as Game of Thrones, Westworld and Chernobyl, hit series like The Sopranos and Sex and the City, together with local original productions from Latin America, such as Joint Venture, The Bronze Garden and Capadocia.
HBO Go is the current streaming service offered by HBO in Latin America, but the partnership certainly aims to increase the brand’s user base in the region prior to the arrival of HBO Max in 2021. HBO Max is a new, upgraded platform that launched in the U.S. last May to compete with Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+. Latin America will be its first international market next year.
The company did not disclose what will be done with HBO Go in Latin America when the new platform is rolled out, but the U.S. offers some clues: there, American subscribers of HBO’s previous streaming service Now are migrating to Max at no extra cost. (In the U.S., HBO Go is a somewhat different operation because it is offered in partnership with local carriers and pay TV companies).
READ ALSO: Disney+ and HBO Max to capitalize on Latin Americans’ stacking platforms
“We celebrate this strategic alliance with HBO Go, an innovation of Mercado Libre and Mercado Pago in offering subscriptions of quality content to our users. Through this agreement we are facilitating the access of HBO Go premium content to the Latin American public”, said Sean Summers, CMO of Mercado Libre.
“With Mercado Libre we are expanding the reach to new audiences throughout the region and, at the same time, offering new ways to subscribe to HBO Go”, said Javier Figueras, corporate Vice President of Affiliate Relations for HBO Latin America.
