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New 'Max' Streaming Service Launches, Replacing HBO Max
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You're on an Apple rumor/fan site. The Apple community are probably the most well known for brand loyalty (to a fault) so yeah a lot of people here are going to be upset about a brand name.
They're not. Max is an all-encompassing streaming service for all the content owned by Warner, Turner, and Discovery. HBO is just one small part of that. It doesn't make sense to call the entire service HBO Max, in the same way that it wouldn't make sense for Disney's streaming service to be called Marvel+. The HBO brand name isn't going away, it will just be used for HBO content on Max.
I desperately wish just ONE competent journalist would cover this story, because what the general public doesn't seem to understand is that no one at Warner Bros ever wanted to use the HBO Max name. It was forced on them by AT&T. HBO execs felt it diminished their brand by being associated by all the other non-HBO content, and everyone else felt it diminished their brands by focusing only on HBO. The rebranding isn't a Zaslav directive per se, it's everyone involved being able to do what they always wanted to do, without AT&T's interference.
Also, why are people pretending like they've switched the name a bunch? It's been HBO Max since the beginning and now it's just Max. That's one name change. Chill.
HBO is iconic. You wouldn't rename Apple - Mac. Starbucks, Star.
Don't change an iconic name to something lesser by picking Max. Nobody cares about Cinemax. Nobody. Everyone knows HBO. It's not TV it's HBO. Home Box Office
When you saw these as a child/adult, you knew what was coming next. Quality, an amazing show/movie with no commercials!
Family time.
I got a special from HBO Max where I got 6 months for 25 bucks or some such thing.
They are waaaay too expensive for the very limited material they offer.
Maybe 5 or 6 bucks a month but 15.99 + tax for the ad-free is simply ridiculous.
Maybe there are enough GOT fans still out there to keep this going but a lot of people I know have cancelled since their last price hike.
They are waaaay too expensive for the very limited material they offer.
Maybe 5 or 6 bucks a month but 15.99 + tax for the ad-free is simply ridiculous.
Maybe there are enough GOT fans still out there to keep this going but a lot of people I know have cancelled since their last price hike.
I have no issue with companies trying to make money, after all, it’s still America at the moment.
What I do take issue with is when a company devalues their product in an attempt to make money and I will be voting with my wallet.
That is the biggest issue with the current state of streaming services.
Moving to poor UI/UX, limited/rotating catalogs, and content up selling.
Look at Paramount+. Use to be you sign up and get access to the catalog. Now they folded Showtime content into the base App in an effort to up sell the service. So when browsing, you might find something you want to watch, of wait, gotta subscribe to the add-on. The movie/show shouldn’t have been displayed in the first place.
Want to watch a Star Trek movie? A brand prominently featured by Paramount? Nope, currently licensed out the streaming rights to HBO. Sorry!
Look at Prime. Terrible UI/UX. No way to browse categories. Horrible custom media player. Want to fast forward? LOL. Mixes FreeVee (or whatever they are calling it these days) results in with their subscription App.
Look at Netflix. No way to browse categories. No integration with “Up Next”. At least they aren’t jamming content you can’t watch in your face. Then again, they do jam B/C rate international content because their library is hugely lacking.
Now look at what Discovery/Warner and Disney/Hulu are doing…..
Just offer an App for a service. Use system provided APIs/feature sets. Etc.
Essentially return to the model from 2-3 years ago. One network, one App.
Want to watch HGTV? Go to the HGTV App.
Want to watch Food Network? Go to the Food Network App.
Want to watch HBO? Go to the HBO App.
Etc.
Instead, they are reverting to the cable model. Lump garbage content with quality content, force users to pay for the “package”. If the content can’t stand on its own, the correct move would be to eliminate it not jam it down consumers throats.
And the most insulting thing of it all is how they market it with “see all the new value you are getting”. It’s not “value” if it is just garbage content cluttering the App’s catalog.
Are you seriously under the impression the Max name is meant to be a Cinemax rebranding?? wtf
Your point about Apple/Mac is dead wrong. Apple is the parent company. Apple's streaming service is Apple TV+. "HBO Max" is like if they had instead called it Macintosh+, it wouldn't make any sense. You guys are looking at this completely backwards. HBO is not the parent company, they are one group in a massive company, it doesn't make any sense to call the entire streaming service HBO Max when it's way more than that. Even HBO agrees!
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What more natural pairing is there than HBO and...Discovery. Which is very poorly named now because it's not educational at all, it's just a bunch of home renovation shows (which yes are semi-educational but I wouldn't call them discoveries).
And they're making Netflix's big mistake of limiting better quality to higher priced streams.
And of course they're throwing away a valuable brand.
I would be sad if I hadn't already mourned HBO the day AT&T bought it because I knew they would ruin it like everything else they touch.
And they're making Netflix's big mistake of limiting better quality to higher priced streams.
And of course they're throwing away a valuable brand.
I would be sad if I hadn't already mourned HBO the day AT&T bought it because I knew they would ruin it like everything else they touch.
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I think SKY still has the rights to HBO content until 2025. Discovery Warner wouldn't be able to launch it in SKY markets (Germany as well) even if they wanted or better said, it wouldn't make much sense for them
But HBO spent decades building a premium brand and a recognizable name. Maybe the generation watching streaming today is too young to remember that. They have spent many years suffering under AT&T so maybe that reputation was already gone.
They might as well just call it Magnolia Network.
At these prices and with this new crappy service, you're better off in every way to just buy the few shows worth watching outright.
This is how I know the new guy will not last long, what a dumb decision to make.
Yes, you understand the exact reasoning behind the rename - because HBO spent years building a premium brand, and all that work is undone if it becomes the generic catch-all for all of WBD's content. How does it help the HBO brand to be associated with Gold Rush: Alaska?
OK I didn’t think about it that way. I don't see how many of the decisions they made help anything, customers or their business plan. I guess we'll see.
I think each of the price points includes all of the content. So if I switch to the 4k will end up being about $1.00 cheaper
You do realize HBO and Cinemax joined right? Max, whatever the reasoning - shouldnt be the name. I don't care the origins at all. Doesn't matter.
You don't just wipe out HBO and replace it with some stupid, generic name called "Max".
No sense.
Went on a nice walk with the dogs and came back and it now worked for me.
Streaming services exist as a way to replace cable TV as a distribution platform. In years past, while cable was still generating quite a lot of money, these companies sank billions in starting up streaming platforms and filling them with content, in order to grow a customer base and and prepare for a future without cable. We've finally reached that inflection point where cable has shrank enough that it no longer makes sense for it to be the primary distribution platform, so these companies are starting to shift focus to their streaming services, which are largely not yet profitable. That's why you're seeing so much consolidation, price hikes, etc. It's the same reason you see more and more ads on YouTube, on Instagram, forced account signups, forced app downloads, things of that nature. The business model is to lose money while building a customer base and then come back later and devise a way to make it all sustainable, which usually results in a worse user experience. In this specific case, since users seem to abhor the multitude of streaming services, companies have responded by consolidating more content under single platforms. The idea obviously being that many people will more willingly spend more on a few large services than they would on 12 smaller ones. Who knows if it'll work out that way, but that's clearly the intent.
This isn't a uniquely Warner or Zaslav problem, it's how literally every big company works. It's the same exact reason you open Settings on your iPhone and sometimes see an ad for iCloud+. They're all just trying to grow constantly because they care about nothing other than their shareholders. You could make a billion dollars in profit every quarter and be considered a failure if the number isn't going up.
Up Next integration was added this morning at some point. Seems like it was on apples end, as all
The open in hbo max options now just say Max. Hbo max isn’t even mentioned there, despite still being downloadable.
The open in hbo max options now just say Max. Hbo max isn’t even mentioned there, despite still being downloadable.
Has anyone looked at the TVOS stream metrics when using Xcode? Curious if there is any improvement or degradation with the switch over to MAX. I've never had any luck pairing my Apple TVs with Xcode.