Warner Bros. Discovery Is Renaming Max… Again

Warner Bros. Discovery announced that it’s renaming its flagship streaming service from Max… to HBO Max.

The Big Picture: Yes, that thing you’re feeling is déjà vu. WBD CEO David Zaslav’s about-face on the name of the entertainment conglomerate’s streamer represents a major vibe shift in the film and TV ecosystem — people want better content, not more content.

Behind the Change: It turns out there are few brands with as much cultural currency as HBO.

• The name will officially change back this summer, signaling a less-is-more strategy.
• It’s a reversal from Zaslav’s original pitch for the service, which was about scaling the library by combining Warner Bros. film and TV assets with Discovery’s reality content.
• The company said other streamers are “filling the more basic needs with volume” (read: Netflix and Amazon), so WBD is marketing the service around its marquee titles.
• And there’s nothing more marquee, both domestically and internationally, than HBO.

Last Time (Please): Over the past several years, Max has become one of the top premium streaming services globally, trailing only Netflix, Prime Video, and the Disney+ bundle in subscribers — with 122.3 million and an EBITDA of $339 million as of last week’s quarterly earnings report. In fact, Zaslav said Max… err HBO Max… is expected to be the growth engine for the company moving forward.

Prediction: Considering the re-emphasis on the streamer’s blue-chip HBO brand, it’s possible that Zaslav could be setting up a spin-off of Discovery and other declining cable assets from Warner Bros. to help pay down the corporation’s nagging debt load.