Although it will be free for HBO subscribers, the price is $14.99 a month with a 25% savings for 12-month preorders.

HBO Max follows Disney+ — which, priced at $6.99, has already ballooned to more than 50 million subscribers — and Apple TV+ into a landscape where Netflix (NFLX), Amazon (AMZN) and Hulu (the last also a Disney (DIS) shingle) have their own relationships with consumers.

"Naturally, consumers are going to be careful about what subscription services they commit to now," Zak Shaikh, vice president of programming and entertainment at research-based media firm, Magid, told CNN Business.

In February, the Wall Street Journal noted that cable and satellite companies lost 5.5 million subscribers in 2019, significantly exceeding declines from the previous year.

"The commitment for a pay TV service is a far bigger portion of the wallet than one or two streaming subscriptions," Shaikh added.

The studio-backed streamers have represented a hedge against those losses, especially for AT&T (T), the owner of Warner Media, and NBCUniversal parent Comcast (CMCSA), whose service Peacock is also launching soon.

Who will prosper and who will be on the outside looking in?

As analysts have noted, signing up for an array of streaming services can quickly add up to as much as cable or satellite bills, while forcing consumers to go through the process of deciding what they want to watch and investing the time in figuring out where it's available.

Adding up the cost for newcomers HBO Max, Disney+ and Apple TV+ with services such as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and CBS All Access, it's not hard to get close to the price tag for cable, potentially with less programming options overall.

There have already been some potential setbacks.