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Warner Bros. to Replace HBO Max With New 'Max' Streaming Service
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Maybe I missed it but where does CNN land in all this?
Warner Bros. today announced plans to launch a new streaming service that will merge HBO Max and Discovery+ content. The HBO brand will be eliminated, and the streaming service will be called just "Max."
HBO has undergone several different rebranding efforts over the years, as there were previously HBO GO and HBO Now streaming services that were merged into HBO Max in 2020. The "Max" rebrand that drops the HBO name comes after a 2022 merger between Discovery and WarnerMedia. At the time of the merger, the newly formed Warner Bros. Discovery company made it clear that HBO Max would eventually be combined with Discovery+, and rumors in December hinted at the "Max" naming.
Abandoning the HBO branding is a curious decision as the HBO Max streaming service is known for some very popular shows, such as Succession, Game of Thrones, Euphoria, The White Lotus, and The Last of Us. The Max streaming service will have three different price points available:
Warner Bros. says that existing HBO Max subscribers that subscribe through HBO will have access to Max at the same price as their HBO Max subscription, with more information available on the HBO Max website. Those who subscribe through a TV, mobile, or wireless provider will be informed of any price or plan changes.
- Max Ad-Lite: $9.99/month or $99.99/year. Includes 2 concurrent streams, 1080p resolution, no offline downloads, and 5.1 surround sound quality. Supported by ads.
- Max Ad Free: $15.99/month or $149.99/year. Includes 2 concurrent streams, 1080p resolution, 30 offline downloads, and 5.1 surround sound quality.
- Max Ultimate Ad Free: $19.99/month or $199.99/year. Includes 4 concurrent streams, up to 4K UHD resolution, 100 offline downloads, and Dolby Atmos sound quality.
"Max" is set to launch on May 23, and it will include HBO Max content and Discovery TV content such as HGTV, the Food Network, ID, TLC, and more. Alongside the launch of the service, Warner Bros. also announced a new Harry Potter television series as well as another Game of Thrones prequel show.
On some platforms, the HBO Max app will automatically be updated to the Max app, and on others, users will be prompted to download the Max app when attempting to open the HBO Max app. Discovery+ customers can sign up as new Max customers, as those subscriptions will not transition. Discovery+ will continue to be available as a standalone service.
Article Link: Warner Bros. to Replace HBO Max With New 'Max' Streaming Service
"Me can't understand all them fancy words HBO uses, can't we just have people hitting each other without all that dumb talking stuff?"
"we had to destroy the village to save it". Some real newspeak there.
Paying forum members (the ones who get "Contributor" or "god/goddess" next to their name) can delete comments. Others tend to edit down to just ".".
I think part of the plan is, if they keep changing the name every five minutes, you won't be able to cancel it because the name will change again in the middle of trying to cancel.
Wow, I totally remember that theme/opening, and have strong memories of Columbo, McMillan & wife, and McCloud, and absolutely zero memory of "Hec Ramsey", as a show, or character, or part of that series.
Right?! I don't remember it at all, either. But from what I read about it on Wikipedia, it seems like it was a pretty good show.
It could be confusing because the very first sentence of the article says HBO Max and D+ merge into one service.
If they just added in CNN to this bundle I could drop YouTube TV altogether! One can dream...
I sub through Hulu. Is that going to impact those users?
update: I just cancelled them. I'm not actively watching anything on them anyway. I got too many subs right now. Just keeping the ones I'm actively watching something.
update: I just cancelled them. I'm not actively watching anything on them anyway. I got too many subs right now. Just keeping the ones I'm actively watching something.
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More reliable new sources are reporting that the HBO brand will continue to exist prominently within the Max app. In fact, the chairman of HBO has said that this change will PROTECT the HBO brand, since the new Max app will also roll in the lowbrow Discovery unscripted shows. They state this will avoid diluting the prestige HBO brand with Discovery fare.
My first thought is "Cinemax" service? Should have kept HBO. Oops. I have a discounted price as part of DirecTV Stream. I will axe it if the price is increased, for sure.
This just in: After focus-group feedback, the new brand has been changed to HBO Go Blow Max.
Never said said it was my decision to make. Just that it is a confusing decision, which was the point of the original comments. It make no sense from an HBO subscriber’s standpoint. It does not make sense to a D+ subscriber’s standpoint. The only people to whom it does make sense is to the overlap of subscribers to both services as they will get to pay $1 less - assuming the complete catalogs of both are included.
I don’t even really see how it makes sense to the execs at WBD. Unless they all opened a butt load of puts.
Following Netflix by charging you more for 4K, only they don't have the same recognition as Netflix in the streaming space let's be honest. It's nothing but a money grab. They may have to use bigger files for 4K content but I'm sure they make enough to cover that.
And with the shows Disney has been making they seem be losing subscribers too.
And with the shows Disney has been making they seem be losing subscribers too.
Yes, I had already half expected them to call it WarnerBros+ or Warner+ !
I guess they didn't want to name the whole service HBO because that's one of the channels (or collections) within the service, and I presume there'll be a HBO section in the App alongside the other services such as Discovery.
"Max" is definitely a bit of a generic and forgettable name though. If I Google "Max" in my country, the first things that show are a women's clothing store and an air-conditioning company.