HBO Max Is Going Away, WB Has Unveiled Its Streaming Replacement
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Warner Bros Discovery has been going through a lot of changes in the past few months, largely due to the company’s budget constraints and its attempts to drum up new subscriptions to its streaming channels. Discovery+ and HBO Max have been successful streaming content options for the company, with House of the Dragon and The White Lotus coming out near the top in terms of overall viewers recently. Now, CNBC reports that Warner Bros Discovery will be combining Discovery+ and HBO Max into one streaming platform, and the name of the platform has been revealed to be “Max.”
The expected name that Warner Bros Discovery has been mulling over for its subscription streaming service, “Max,” is not set in stone yet but it looks to be a likely name change. Leaning on its already established HBO Max platform name, the company might be looking to not confuse viewers by keeping part of the platform’s name intact while making the necessary changes to the available content on the service behind the scenes. The remodeled platform will be home to existing HBO Max and Discovery+ television series, specials, and made-for-television movies.
Over the last few months, Warner Bros Discovery has made a number of changes to the titles available on its platforms Discovery+ and HBO Max, signaling a changing of the tides for a company that is still trying to repair damages to its reputation. The highly anticipated movie Batgirl was shelved permanently, despite the superhero movie being almost complete, and executives at the company have been battling rumors of financial problems ever since. Chief Executive Officer David Zaslav removed many of HBO Max’s television series titles and reduced the company’s spending on original programming, which has affected other channels like CNN and content like kids’ shows.
As for the current Discovery+ streaming platform, Warner Bros Discovery will be folding in a lot of the streamer’s current slate of television shows into “Max” when the platform combines with HBO Max soon. The tentative date for “Max” to launch is set for Spring 2023, but that could change if the company’s lawyers do not approve of the new name for the combined streaming services. “Max” will soon be the home for everything that Discovery+ has under its umbrella, including popular programs from Magnolia Network, CNN Originals, HGTV, Lifetime, and TLC.
Warner Bros Discovery created controversy in 2022 with a number of changes to its streaming platform’s names as well as its content, most notably with the existing HBO Max. The streamer was once known primarily as HBO when it was simply the cable television network most viewers turned to for Game of Thrones, but it has gone through a multitude of names recently, including HBO Go, HBO Now, and the more recently adopted HBO Max.
Warner Bros Discovery looks to be trying to bring together its viewership from multiple streaming platforms to have a single home in “Max,” but with all of the many changes that have occurred recently, it would be understandable for those viewers to be confused as to where exactly their favorite television shows are housed.
