AT&T blames Amazon where new technology distributors in the digital age are electing not to distribute the product," Stankey said. "I think that dynamic is an important one to understand, and it just shows how fast the markets are moving and how we have to respond to those changes."
Amazon hit back in a statement that illuminates part of the dispute, saying that 5 million HBO subscribers access HBO through Amazon Prime Video's Channels feature (where Amazon has the direct billing relationship with the customer), but can't upgrade to Max.
"AT&T is choosing to deny these loyal HBO customers access to the expanded catalog," Amazon said. "We believe that if you're paying for HBO, you're entitled to the new programming through the method you're already using. That's just good customer service and that's a priority for us."
Some HBO customers with Roku and Amazon voiced their frustrations on social media on Wednesday.
One person tweeted: "So HBO convinces me to cancel HBO Now through Hulu for $14.99 a few weeks ago and subscribe to HBO Max separately for $11.99 but then one hour before going live they tell me that Roku is not on the supported streaming device list? Ridiculous.
So who is at fault? AT&T