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How to get HBO for free

HBO has some of the hottest TV shows and biggest blockbusters, but what if you don't want to pay? Here's how to get HBO for free, or save a few dollars, too.

HBO remains one of the titans of the entertainment industry, and with shows such as The Wire, Game of Thrones, The Sopranos, Watchmen, and more, under its belt, it’s easy to see why that’s the case. If you’re itching to watching HBO but don’t have the money, it can be frustrating. But what if we told you that you could get HBO for free? Whether you want to binge-watch a single series or catch up on a blockbuster film, we’ll show you how to get HBO for free using a bit of ingenuity.

Trials are designed to get you hooked, but if you’re looking to binge-watch a show or gain access to a few films, you may only need the 30-day trial period to satiate your craving. You can find trials for HBO at the source, HBO.com, or via other streaming services. Trial availability tends to change over time, but we found that both Hulu and Amazon Prime seemed to offer ongoing trials to the service’s content. Just remember that many trials will bill your credit card once they end, so put a reminder on your calendar to cancel before that date if you don’t wish to continue your subscription.

Your cable provider might be able to hook you up with a free trial of HBO or HBO Max, and you don’t need to play any tricks. Many cable and satellite TV providers have HBO trials on-hand, as the service is so popular that customers regularly look to sample it. The key to calling your cable provider is to be honest and ask if any HBO trials are available because you want to try the service; this is a great time to remember that old saying your mother told you — you catch more flies with honey than vinegar.

Another tactic with cable providers is to say that another competing service offers HBO with their package at a lower price; your provider may decide to match the competition. If they can’t provide you with a trial period of HBO, don’t fret, as we still have other methods to try and obtain your favorite shows and movies for free.

This may come as a surprise, but HBO’s website offers select episodes of shows to watch for no cost. For the most part, the first few episodes will be available. While HBO’s website isn’t likely to get you through an entire show, it’s a great way to see if signing up for a full HBO subscription is worth it. Test out those shows your friends keep telling you about to see if HBO is right for you.

Warner Media, the company that owns HBO, is in turn owned by AT&T. Due to the close ownership of these three companies, AT&T will typically offer HBO as a free or discounted service to its customers. If you are an AT&T Unlimited Elite customer, HBO Max is included with your subscription. Additionally, DirecTV is owned by AT&T, so users signing up for their Choice or Ultimate packages will receive a year of HBO Max for no cost. If you’re already a member of one of these services, you may have access to HBO without even knowing it.

Sharing passwords for streaming services isn’t exactly secret, and it might be your ticket to gaining access to HBO at no cost. Check with friends and family who have streaming services to see if someone might be willing to give you their login information. Even better, perhaps you can trade services, such as providing a friend or family member access to Netflix (although the streamer is reportedly cracking down on password sharing) in exchange for HBO.  Sometimes, it is about who you know.

China just gave Hollywood a cautionary tale about AI filmmaking. Sanxingdui: Future Past, billed as the country's first fully AI-generated movie, hit theaters on October 23 and bombed at the box office.

According to Futurism, the film's reported $1.5 million production budget landed on more than 10,000 screens. Yet it pulled in only about $181,000, averaging roughly $20 per screen, making the budget difficult to recover.

Some of the best shots in Grok Imagine’s AI-made Odyssey don’t contain actors. Ancient landscapes stretch into the distance. Close-ups of grimy hands suggest people who have touched something rougher than a keyboard. For a few seconds, the illusion holds.

https://twitter.com/imagine/status/2113712964419063911

YouTube videos could soon look better without eating quite so much data, right? Thankfully, the platform plans to introduce a new video format called AV2 on its web player in early 2027, promising more efficient streaming and potentially fewer playback hiccups on slower internet connections. The big headline is a roughly 30% improvement in compression efficiency over AV1, YouTube's existing video format. That doesn't guarantee every video will use 30% less data, but it could make streaming a little easier on both internet connections and data allowances.

What is AV2, and why should viewers care?