HBO GO Shutting Down, HBO Now Rebranding as 'HBO' Following HBO Max Launch

[nostresshere]

For a long time, I thought HBO MAX was just HBO plus Cinemax. Silly me.

Meanwhile, you can not stream it with Roku. ( I have switched from AppleTV to Roku - mainly due to the remote)

 

[myscrnnm]

I'm not sure how HBO Now (or soon to be just "HBO") differs from HBO Max. Don't they cost the same anyway? Or do they intend to reduce the price of HBO Now and keep $14.99/month for HBO Max?

They really don't. HBO Max has all the existing content of HBO Now, but now with its own original Max content (eg. Love Life starring Anna Kendrick). HBO Now will be phased out as more devices support HBO Max, and current subscribers of Now automatically get access to HBO Max.

I've never understood why HBO has such a confusing lineup of services, or at least seemingly confusing. When you compare HBO, HBO Go, HBO Now, and HBO Max, it's actually quite simple, but the different branding makes their whole lineup seem more complicated than it has to be.

 

[Black Magic]

Hope they introduce new HBO app as the GO is one of the worst applications ever. Keeps loosing credentials, warns about lack of internet even though everything is totally fine with connection. Called their hotline multiple times - always same answer “please reinstall application”, great idea when you have to do it on all your mobile and atv devices.

No. It's probably your internet connection. Investigate that part more.

 

[steve333]

That's good, because I just started using the HBO Max app in place of HBO GO; and it's much harder to find the "HBO" stuff in the much bigger haystack.
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They didn't delete it. They removed it temporarily while they create some supplementary contextual material; which is how it was done when the movie was shown on TCM. With HBO Max, they foolishly post the movie without the contextual material. The movie will be reposted in the foreseeable future.

As if people aren't smart enough to realize it's an old movie and things were different then?
So ridiculous

 

[FaustsHausUK]

I would never pay HBO a single dime after they bowed to the Woke Cult and removed "Gone With the Wind."

Never trust a company that viciously attacks a work of art, even if you dislike it. HBO has disgraced itself.

On the other hand, the ridiculous name changes are hilarious. Really, who is running their marketing department? 😂

They have temporarily removed it. It will be back with some historical context around the racially insensitive content it contains. It wasn’t a vicious attack - some people are capable of growing and learning from past mistakes.

If you love the movie so much, you can still find physical and digital copies of it. It’s available to buy or rent from iTunes, for example.

 

[satchmo]

That MAX logo is hideously large, grotesque and practically touching the HBO logo itself. Any half decent brand guidelines manual would never allows this.

 

[Mr. Awesome]

Before this...

- HBO: a cable channel
- HBO Go: a way for cable subscribers to watch HBO on something other than their cable box, “on the go”
- HBO Now: a way for non-cable subscribers to watch HBO, created to appease the cable networks that carry HBO
- HBO Max: HBO plus extra content from Warner Media companies/channels such as Cartoon Network, Adult Swim and Warner Bros.

I would imagine HBO Go is going away because the contractual issues with cable companies that caused HBO Go vs HBO Now have gone away in some fashion.

So now...

- HBO: a cable channel, and an app carrying that channel’s content
- HBO Max: HBO plus extra content from Warner Media

Okay. That makes more sense. Thanks for explaining it!

 

[paulcons]

So Go becomes Max (maybe, they threw in a caveat about "if your cable subscription supports it"). Now becomes HBO. SO can we assume that HBO Max us NOT available as a separate package for non-cable subs?

 

[julesme]

I'm pretty sure it's not.
What has been reported is that you can't get HBO Max on the Roku. You can still watch the HBO channel (without the additional Max content), so nothing has changed for you. You can also subscribe to HBO Now directly through HBO and use HBO Now on the Roku. This would also entitle you to use HBO Max on other platforms where it's available.
As a Roku channel subscriber you could never use the HBO Now app. But you had access to the same content in the Roku channel.
I'm not confused at all. From what you wrote you never had HBO Now or HBO Go, but the HBO channel from Roku. And that was your own choice.

As of last week, the HBO Now app has been discontinued on iOS, at least in the US. This is how I primarily accessed HBO Now, watching on my iPad. But since you claim I'm making the whole thing up, maybe I should just give you the 15 bucks instead and call it a day!

Max | Help Center

Get answers to your questions about Max: sign in, billing, your account, and streaming. We’re here to help!

help.hbonow.com

 

[1Peace]

No. It's probably your internet connection. Investigate that part more.

I can’t say anything about his internet connection but I can agree with him about HBO GO. This is the only APP/service with which I have constant problems.

 

[jgleigh]

And then this from the HBO site:

"Current HBO NOW subscribers (billed directly by HBO or via in-app purchase) also have access to HBO Max at no additional cost."

So is there any difference? Why is Dish still not allowed to carry HBO? Why can't you watch HBO through the Amazon Prime app on a Dish device? The restrictions about HBO on Amazon Prime on different devices will make your head spin.

 

[redfirebird08]

Discovered something interesting. Since the HBO Go app is about to die, I was curious to see if I could login to HBO Now on Roku. My HBO subscription is through AT&T Uverse. I used the Uverse HBO subscription to create a HBO Max account for the HBO Max app on my iPhone and iPad. My HBO Max login information works to login to HBO Now on Roku. So when the HBO Now app is converted to "HBO" app and HBO Go app dies on Roku, I guess I am still good to go.

Hopefully Roku and AT&T will get their act together soon enough and deliver an actual HBO Max app on Roku. I do still have a couple of very old Apple TV devices, so I am able to use Airplay to send HBO Max content from iPad or iPhone to the Apple TV boxes. I would prefer to get HBO Max on Roku though. I am glad that I will at least be able to use the HBO Now or renamed HBO app. My HBO subscription is through AT&T itself, which is the insane thing about all of this.

 

[Complex757]

I was wondering when this was going to happen. HBO Now and HBO Go was already confusing enough.

Now that they've done this, they can work on making the improvements to HBO Max what should have been included with the launch.

 

[redfirebird08]

I was wondering when this was going to happen. HBO Now and HBO Go was already confusing enough.

Now that they've done this, they can work on making the improvements to HBO Max what should have been included with the launch.

I don't know why HBO Now and HBO Go were not already merged together. Should have been a clean sign-in to a single HBO app with either a cable subscription to HBO or purchasing access through HBO website/Apple Store, etc.

 

[AlteranX]

The whole thing was a cluster from the get-GO. Whenever I wanted to watch something NOW I needed to log in again. It was annoying to the Max.

 

[Muzzakus]

HBO GOne with the wind

 

[trevorplease]

I’ve been meaning to pick up HBO but the different stuff confuses me so I haven’t. If I want to watch shows like True Detective, Sopranos, the Wire on my PC Chrome Browser at the best resolution available. What service should I be subscribing too?

edit: I have a spectrum subscription

 

[Idec50]

I think confusion is the strategy. HBO is no longer a great offering with streaming services offering way more and just as good of content for less. HBO doesn’t do anything the way a tech company like Netflix would which is why their apps suck. They still want to be just HBO, but if they confuse enough people and add some titles like Friends, they can get people to signup for HBO Max which makes them look like they have embraced the tech world. We all know HBO clearly hasn’t. They still want their cake and eat it too. They want to take money from both sides. In their perfect world, everyone would have a cable subscription, not be able to sign into HBO as it doesn’t work. Then pay for HBO through Hulu and Amazon. Then just to get Friends signup for Max to get subscribers to pay multiple times for HBO and an extra Max subscription just for Friends.

Chaos and confusion is the strategy! And anyone else notice that you sign into HBO or any of the services through Amazon and Amazon bills you again for the same service? That’s the real gem of these traditional cable companies and the average American doesn’t read their bills. There are so many bills they just succumb and hand their whole paycheck over to whoever wants it!

Well, that’s all well and good corporate psychoanalysis, but in no way do I agree that the content on Netflix, Apple, Disney, Showtime, or Hulu is close to HBO in terms of quality. Of all these, HBO has 80% of the content worth watching unless you like watching paint dry. Granted, I’m afraid this will change as they try to become like these others. I mean ... “Friends” ... really???

 

[Iconoclysm]

Hahaha, this is like the classroom bit from The Meaning of Life ...

I listened to a pod the other day, they had some interesting perspective on this - they could've gone Warner Entertainment / Warner Brothers, but WB doesn't have much brand equity, we know HBO = movies and super high quality originals (Sopranos, GOT, etc.) Of course, they could have also gone further up the corporate ladder and used some kind of AT&T type branding, but everybody hates AT&T

Leaving HBO in the name provides decent brand recognition.

Otherwise, see video ...

Now, before I begin the lesson, will those of you who are playing in the match this afternoon move your clothes down onto the lower peg immediately after lunch, before you write your letter home, if you're not getting your hair cut, unless you've got a younger brother who is going out this weekend as the guest of another boy, in which case, collect his note before lunch, put it in your letter after you've had your hair cut, and make sure he moves your clothes down onto the lower peg for you.

Also, HBO and Cinemax have been sold together as a package for well over 35 years. If they're using the Cinemax term here, it would make sense. But I don't think they're even trying to throw Cinemax's name around, it isn't even as big a name as Showtime.
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There should be one HBO app. Then you would either sign in with your provider or buy the subscription in the app. Simple.

All these names and apps for the same goddamn company is just mindstupidly confusing for a consumer deciding what to do, what to subscribe to, what to download and where to watch what. It shouldn't be this hard for me to give them my money. Seriously, whoever is responsible for HBO's product marketing needs to be fired. I've never seen such terrible marketing for a major company.

Two apps isn't horrible but eventually they should converge. It only makes sense even from marketing within the app to attract upgraders. This isn't HBO's fault, it's AT&T's. They came in and decided they were going to create a full AT&T app and took HBO's branding for it.