Max streaming service to change name back to HBO Max
Warner Bros. Discovery made a surprise announcement on Wednesday: it was re-re-branding its flagship streaming service as “HBO Max,” two years after controversially shortening the name …
It’s not TV, it’s HBO Max. Again.
Warner Bros. Discovery made a surprise announcement on Wednesday: it will re-re-brand its flagship streaming service as “HBO Max,” two years after controversially shortening the name to “Max.”
The switchback was revealed at the company’s upfronts presentation in New York.
The decision comes about two months after the Max logo was resigned to look more similar to the classic black-and-white HBO logo.
WBD was 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.”
The new name — and another new logo — will switch sometime this summer.
The company said despite its addition of millions of subscribers since the name change, research showed that consumers associate “HBO” with a certain high quality and was made in response to strategies by more-prodigious streamers like Netflix and Hulu.
“With the course we are on and strong momentum we are enjoying, we believe HBO Max far better represents our current consumer proposition,” Casey Bloys, chairman and CEO of HBO and Max content, said. “And it clearly states our implicit promise to deliver content that is recognized as unique and, to steal a line we always said at HBO, worth paying for.”
HBO Max was originally launched in 2020, combining HBO Go and HBO Now. WBD President and CEO David Zaslav said in 2023 that the shorter name provided a “something for everyone” appeal.
“The powerful growth we have seen in our global streaming service is built around the quality of our programming,” Zaslav said in a statement. “Today, we are bringing back HBO, the brand that represents the highest quality in media, to further accelerate that growth in the years ahead.”
Adding a dose of humor to the proceedings, the company’s press release announcing the change includes a meme from “Friends” of Ross shouting “We were on a break” with the old and new logos.