HBO Go HBO Now HBO Max Max Is Altering Its Identify to HBO Max

Later this summer season, streaming service Max, previously HBO Max, will turn out to be HBO Max, previously Max. Warner Bros. Discovery announced Wednesday that it’s going to re-re-re-brand its flagship streaming platform to the identify that truly is smart. So, welcome again HBO Max…for nevertheless lengthy this lasts.

When WBD first launched HBO Max again in 2020, it had its personal naming nonsense to take care of. The platform was set to displace a number of different streaming choices that the corporate had on the time, together with HBO Go and HBO Now, in addition to Warner Bros.’ then-parent firm AT&T’s personal streaming providing AT&T TV Now. So whereas HBO Max was a form of answer, there was nonetheless confusion as to which platform was the flagship providing. It nearly would have made extra sense to drop the HBO identify then and simply go along with Max proper off the bat, although they’d have misplaced the HBO branding that pulls so many individuals in.

As an alternative, they opted to kill off HBO from the name in 2023, going to simply Max in an try and sign that the platform has extra to supply than simply HBO packages. On the time, the corporate was doing a comfortable pivot into opening up its content material choices, serving up more kid- and family-friendly options.

So did that work? Onerous to say, however context clues would inform us no. Earlier this 12 months, the corporate introduced it was ditching a number of its high-profile youngsters’ programming, together with getting rid of Looney Tunes and opting not to renew its deal with Sesame Street. The Verge pointed out that it has additionally been shifting its branding from referring to exhibits as “Max originals” to calling them “HBO Originals.” So it looks like no matter they have been attempting to make the Max identify related to, it didn’t stick.

So now we’re again to the place we began—with HBO Max. And clearly, the executives can’t simply admit they kinda blew it with the identify change again in 2023, so this comes with the wallpapering over of the decision-making course of. No “Oops, our dangerous.” Let’s get some company converse for why this occurred as an alternative. Right here’s David Zaslav, President and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, via press release: “The highly effective progress we have now seen in our international streaming service is constructed across the high quality of our programming. Immediately, we’re bringing again HBO, the model that represents the very best high quality in media, to additional speed up that progress within the years forward.”

Ah, yeah, that’s the good things. It’s all a part of the plan, no?