Max Brand Reversal Driven By Warner’s Changing Ambitions, Direction
By: bitcoin ethereum news|2025/05/16 08:45:04
0
Share
Would a streaming service by any other name smell as sweet as the anodyne and largely meaningless “Max?” Uh, yes, and probably be a lot more popular long-term with consumers around the planet. At this week’s New York upfronts presentation to advertisers, Warner Bros. Discovery executives said its Max streaming service this summer would revert to its natal name, HBO Max. The reversion reinstates in big type the only brand that compels many of the service’s 122 million customers to pony up several dollars in subscription fees each month. It’s also a sign of where WBD and HBO Max are headed next after an often wobbly half-decade that included one huge and debt-ridden merger, a ruinously expensive ambition to compete with Netflix and Amazon, and a reconsideration of what a smaller, more sustainable media company could be post-Streaming Wars. The good news about the return to HBO Max, as HBO chief Casey Bloys joked, “is I have a drawer full of stationery from the last time around.” It took WBD a few years to figure it out, though. The streaming service launched almost exactly five years ago, and was called HBO Max by two sets of leaders ago. The launch was a shambolic mess, hobbled by the pandemic lockdown that started two months earlier, and which shut down several planned original shows. Jason Kilar, who had just become head of what was then called Warner Media and was part of AT&T, was enraged enough at the messy debut that some executives soon would move on. Perhaps Warner executives were suffering from a near-fatal over-exposure of HBO-branded video services at the time. There was the premium cable mothership, called simply HBO, but the list also included proto-streaming, on-demand services HBO Go and HBO Now. Consumers could be forgiven for some market confusion before HBO Go and Now went soon. Even after they shuffled onto an ice floe, confusion remained. HBO Max included pretty much all of HBO’s current and library content and a bunch of other great stuff from Warner’s rich library of films and TV stretching back most of a century. If you were an HBO cable subscriber, you even got to use HBO Max for free. Deal! Provided you could figure out this newfangled streaming app thing. Fast forward, past the 2022 merger of reality-show haven Discovery Networks with the much-bigger Warner Media. Now, new leadership wanted to signify that they had an “everything” streaming app capable of competing with the big boys, even if it didn’t have Netflix and Amazon’s international reach, bottomless pockets, and sustainable scale. Max featured a wide range of shows, including plenty for awards-driven fans of premium original scripted series and features, sports geeks (eventually), classic movie obsessives, animation fans young and old, and trashy reality show lovers, among much else. Basically, the idea was to provide a lot of something for everyone who might be willing to pay for it. So, in 2023, HBO Max lost half its name, leaving the minimalist Max as mute stand-in for one of television’s most storied brands. “Even two years ago, the idea was still that we were gonna be something for everybody,” Bloys told the upfronts audience. “Everybody wanted to be the next Netflix, and it’s so incredibly expensive to do that ... We have accepted and understand that the majority of our subscribers at this point are going to have Netflix, and they’re going to have Amazon.” So the question now is what does the re-christened HBO Max become? Per Bloys, “We did a lot of research and focus groups. The things subscribers want from us are HBO programming, scripted dramas, comedies, documentaries, the pay-one [licensed] movies, library movies, and basically the Warner Bros. TV library.” Not on that list: children’s programming and animation. Earlier this year, WBD cut ties with Sesame Street, is carving down what’s left of Cartoon Network and Adult Swim, and mothballed access to many classic kid-focused animated shows such as Looney Tunes. Not to put too fine a point on it, but Max’s children’s shows couldn’t compete with CocoMelon (on Netflix and YouTube) and Bluey (on Disney+). So HBO Max won’t have much in the way of children’s programming, and less of animation, once a strong suit. WBD has finally begun to make modest streaming profits ($339 million in Q1 adjusted EBITDA), after too many quarters of even bigger losses. And Max continues to roll out internationally, already in around 75 countries with plenty more to come. The international push has helped drive subscriber growth, which last quarter added 5.3 million more subs. That still leaves Max far behind Netflix, which operates in more than 190 countries, with Q1 operating income of $3.35 billion, up 27% over 2024. Netflix stopped reporting its total subscriber count in the previous quarter, at 301 million, but continues to far outstrip every streaming competitor but YouTube. Given that reality, one sign of good management might be to adapt, and do something different. That’s what’s happening. Based on Bloys’ comments, and those of CEO David Zaslav, “different” means fewer, bigger swings with content spending than Netflix or Amazon Prime Video. That less-is-more approach leverages Warner’s deep library of films and TV shows, and HBO’s still reliable knack for producing culture-grabbing originals such as House of Dragons, Hacks, and The Last of Us. It also may set the stage for further deal-making by Zaslav, who welcomed Donald Trump’s election with comments about hoped-for deregulation and openness to mergers & acquisitions. Given many other macro uncertainties, we’ll see if anything like that happens this year, but it’s safe to say the spirit is willing if the deal is solid. Accordingly, earlier this year, WBD reorganized operations, putting its burgeoning streaming service and the studios behind its movies, DC superhero franchises, games, and television production on one side, and the company’s cable networks in a separate division. Many in Hollywood expect that reorg is a predicate to spinning off WBD’s cable operations (TNT, CNN, Discovery, etc), perhaps similar to what Comcast is already doing with most of its cable networks other than Bravo. Certainly, rebranding to HBO Max, emphasizing a brand that means quality television entertainment, would nicely accommodate the bright line the latest reorganization draws between the growing streaming and production side versus the fading cable networks. At least people will know what they’re getting when they sign up, far more than they ever did with “Max.” HBO Max, by the way, isn’t the only streaming product based on a vastly popular brand that’s getting an official new/old name this week. Elsewhere at the upfronts, Disney CEO Bob Iger said the everything-on-ESPN streaming app expected to launch before football season this year will officially be called (drum roll, please) ESPN. That’s a shift, but at least a sensical one, from the long-awaited project’s internal code name of “ESPN Flagship.” Flagship suggested the app’s vital importance to the Worldwide Leader’s continued success, especially as its cable birthplace continues to fade. But the brand is the brand. At least somebody at Disney figured that out right away. Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/dbloom/2025/05/15/max-brand-reversal-driven-by-warners-changing-ambitions-direction/
You may also like

IOSG: Making Probability an Asset, Forecasting Market Intelligence Agent
Predictive Market Oracle will begin to take shape in early 2026, poised to become a nascent product in the oracles space over the next year.

The US’s Back-Channel Helper in Attacking Iran, How Evil is Palantir
Palantir has once again used data to validate that unsettling logical loop: War is its best business development strategy

Key Market Intelligence on March 3rd, how much did you miss?
1. On-chain Volume: $34.0M USD inflow to Hyperliquid today; $29.3M USD outflow from Arbitrum
2. Biggest Gainers and Losers: $FAI, $ARC
3. Top News: Today, the crypto market rebounded against the trend, with a macro hedge whale holding long positions in gold and silver and shorting crypto, resulting in a $500k USD loss for the day

Interpreting the Anthropic vs. War Department Conflict: What Does Trump Intend to Do?
In the coming decades, our freedom may be more fragile than we think

Nasdaq Moves In, Predicts Market Has Reached Mainstream Inflection Point
Predictive trading is no longer just an experiment in the crypto space or a niche market but is starting to be integrated into the product suite of traditional trading platforms.

After a 48-hour ban, Claude reached the top of the App Store
Just the day before, ChatGPT was sitting right there

If this is the beginning of the triple halving, what are top investors saying about what to expect?
Hormuz Strait Blockade, Capital War, Oil and Bitcoin

After Iran's Political Risk Rises, Cryptocurrency Sees Massive Outflow
Following the airstrike, within minutes, Iran's largest cryptocurrency exchange, Nobitex, saw a 700% surge in cryptocurrency outflows.

Pantera Capital Partner: The Financial Trajectory of AI Agents
AI agents will move towards fully autonomous commerce, and blockchain is the only digital-native financial track that meets its needs for identity, micropayments, and trustless execution.

In the next 5 years, Vitalik will scale Ethereum like this
Short-Term vs Long-Term, Execution, Data vs State

Sam Altman and the End of the World Capitalism
The real danger is never AI itself, but those who believe they have the right to define the human destiny.

Wall Street Rings Inflation Alarm Bells Amid Iran Tensions, What Does It Mean for Cryptocurrency?
Interest rates have remained stubbornly high, posing a challenge to the cryptocurrency bull case.

Qwen Open Source Model Enters Mobile, Nasdaq Tests Water Prediction Market, What's the Overseas Crypto Community Talking About Today?
What Was the Hottest Topic Among Expats in the Last 24 Hours?

MegaETH Co-founder: 48 Hours After Escaping Dubai, I Reassess the Entire Crypto Scene
The global environment is not favorable to us, but in the long run, it may be favorable to us.

Morning Report | Strategy increased its holdings by 3,015 bitcoins last week; BitMine increased its holdings by 50,928 ETH last week; Vitalik elaborated on the Ethereum execution layer roadmap
March 2 Market Key Events Overview

Why is it said that there are structural opportunities in encrypted AI?
When centralized AI falls into the dilemma of regulation and trust, Crypto + AI will become a structural escape route for safeguarding data and sovereignty in a multipolar world.

Make Probability an Asset: A Forward-Looking Perspective on Predictive Market Agents
The predictive market agents are expected to present early prototypes in early 2026, likely becoming an emerging product form in the field of agents in the following year.

Consumer application issues
The truly outstanding applications will not ask people to "use cryptocurrency," but will provide practical and better solutions to the problems that people already face.
IOSG: Making Probability an Asset, Forecasting Market Intelligence Agent
Predictive Market Oracle will begin to take shape in early 2026, poised to become a nascent product in the oracles space over the next year.
The US’s Back-Channel Helper in Attacking Iran, How Evil is Palantir
Palantir has once again used data to validate that unsettling logical loop: War is its best business development strategy
Key Market Intelligence on March 3rd, how much did you miss?
1. On-chain Volume: $34.0M USD inflow to Hyperliquid today; $29.3M USD outflow from Arbitrum
2. Biggest Gainers and Losers: $FAI, $ARC
3. Top News: Today, the crypto market rebounded against the trend, with a macro hedge whale holding long positions in gold and silver and shorting crypto, resulting in a $500k USD loss for the day
Interpreting the Anthropic vs. War Department Conflict: What Does Trump Intend to Do?
In the coming decades, our freedom may be more fragile than we think
Nasdaq Moves In, Predicts Market Has Reached Mainstream Inflection Point
Predictive trading is no longer just an experiment in the crypto space or a niche market but is starting to be integrated into the product suite of traditional trading platforms.
After a 48-hour ban, Claude reached the top of the App Store
Just the day before, ChatGPT was sitting right there