Max is Going to Be HBO Max Again

[MacRumors]

Two years after changing the name of HBO Max to just Max, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) is reversing its decision. Starting this summer, Max is going to be rebranded as HBO Max.

It turns out that it may have been a bad idea dropping the well-recognized HBO brand name from the Max streaming service and opting for a much more generic name. In a blog post explaining the decision, WBD says that the HBO brand is best known for its consistent, high-quality content, which is what the company wants to focus on.

This evolution has also been influenced by changing consumer needs, and the fact that no consumer today is saying they want more content, but most consumers are saying they want better content. With other services filling the more basic needs with volume, WBD has clearly distinguished itself through its quality and distinct stories, and no brand has done that better and more consistently over 50+ years than HBO.

WBD says that the decision to go back to HBO Max demonstrates the company's willingness to use "consumer data and insights" to "position itself for success," suggesting the name change and the effort to include Discovery content for a wider audience wasn't popular with customers.

WBD Streaming CEO JB Perrette said that going forward, HBO Max won't provide "everything for everyone," but "something distinct and great for adults and families."

The HBO service has undergone several rebranding efforts over the years. The first HBO streaming service was known as HBO Go, and it later became HBO Now. HBO Now was rebranded as just HBO, and then it became HBO Max. After that it was just Max, and now we're back to HBO Max.

Article Link: Max is Going to Be HBO Max Again

 

[paul4339]

Best idea ever… very innovative!

 

[moabal]

Courage!

Their consultants are getting paid!

 

[fahlman]

The problem with naming it HBO Max is it contains content from other Warner Bros. properties such as Warner Bros., Discovery, CNN, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Animal Planet, TBS, TNT, Eurosport.

 

[macduke]

MacRumors forum members, yet again, showing they know what's up.

 

[szw-mapple fan]

The problem with naming it HBO Max is it contains content from other Warner Bros. properties such as Warner Bros., Discovery, CNN, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Animal Planet, TBS, TNT, Eurosport.

Maybe name it HBO & Friends?

 

[pnoozi]

Someone’s all-grown-up nepo Wendy’s dumpster crackbaby has been in charge the last few years…

 

[kevine]

This isn't that hard. What they should've done is kept HBO as its own service as well as all the others for a la carte subscriptions, and then offered Max as one bundled service.

 

[now i see it]

obviously this new name wont last long either

The HBO service has undergone several rebranding efforts over the years. The first HBO streaming service was known as HBO Go, and it later became HBO Now. HBO Now was rebranded as just HBO, and then it became HBO Max. After that it was just Max, and now we're back to HBO Max.

 

[macsound1]

The problem with naming it HBO Max is it contains content from other Warner Bros. properties such as Warner Bros., Discovery, CNN, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Animal Planet, TBS, TNT, Eurosport.

I agree that there's not an obvious distinction between TV studio and TV content, but we have the same thing with Hulu and Disney.
Seriously, who would assume the simpsons and Xfiles, both historic Fox TV shows, would be on Disney+ unless you're an actual nerd like us.

Every effort to separate the product from the corporation is mostly a failure. Comcast for example. No one refers to their TV + Internet service provider Xfinity, they just call it Comcast.

 

[jz0309]

WBD says that the decision to go back to HBO Max demonstrates the company's willingness to use "consumer data and insights" to "position itself for success," suggesting the name change and the effort to include Discovery content for a wider audience wasn't popular with customers.

sometimes customers voting with their wallet actually works

 

[paul4339]

Basically people wanted quality and not volume… maybe they should have just called it HBO Premium and have fewer, but high quality content.

 

[Jack Burton]

The person behind this naming it "MAX" will either:

• Remain employed and get a giant bonus for this
• Get fired and get a golden parachute, then a get new job at a similar company where they will do it all again

 

[waquzy]

I will always associate the famous HBO logo appearing with the Sopranos.

What a show that was.

They should just name it HBO. It doesn’t need anything else…

 

[antiprotest]

Just go all the way back to HBO and stay there.

 

[dannyyankou]

I saw that coming from a mile away. One of the worst rebrands I can remember.

 

[SigurTom]

More like HBO Mid

 

[DHagan4755]

Yo-Yo Ma will introduce the rebrand.

 

[Jumpthesnark]

We dodged a bullet. They could have rebranded it MAX HBO.

 

[Think|Different]

It IS a good idea that they know they goofed and are changing it back – who could disagree?

 

[johnsawyercjs]

To make people forget about this debacle, I think they should rebrand as "HBO Ne Plus Ultra".

 

[Crow_Servo]

Idiots running that company…

 

[Graphate]

[…]

It turns out that it may have been a bad idea dropping the well-recognized HBO brand name from the Max streaming service and opting for a much more generic name.[…]

I truly enjoyed this wryly crafted criticism.

 

[Aichon]

The HBO service has undergone several rebranding efforts over the years. The first HBO streaming service was known as HBO Go, and it later became HBO Now. HBO Now was rebranded as just HBO, and then it became HBO Max. After that it was just Max, and now we're back to HBO Max.

Their branding has been so bad that this statement—as bad as it is—is actually incorrect because the truth is even more convoluted.

HBO Go was for HBO (cable) subscribers to access to HBO cable content they were already paying for, but through a mobile app at no additional charge.

HBO Now was a distinct streaming service that was available to non-cable subscribers, and provided access to HBO cable content without an HBO cable subscription.

HBO Max was a distinct streaming service that was available to everyone, and provided access to HBO cable content + HBO Max exclusives with or without an HBO cable subscription.

There was a brief window in 2020 where HBO Go, HBO Now, and HBO Max all existed alongside each other as distinct services that someone could be subscribed to, before HBO Max (later Max, later still HBO Max) eventually ate them all. I might enjoy HBO Go as a cable subscriber, and then additionally subscribe to HBO Max so that I could enjoy HBO Max exclusives, while my neighbor only did HBO Now so that they could enjoy HBO cable content without having to subscribe to cable. Loads of articles like this one popped up at the time to help explain the mess.

Clear as mud?

 

[subjonas]

the effort to include Discovery content for a wider audience wasn't popular with customers.

I hope that doesn’t mean they’re taking away the nature and science documentaries. That’s mostly what I watch on Max.