Warner Bros. Discovery Just Reversed That Horrible “HBO Max” Branding Decision
I love movies and TV shows of all genres, but I have to admit that I have a soft spot for HBO. This channel is home to some of my favorite TV shows of all time: Game of Thrones , Barry , Silicon Valley , and now The Last of Us comes to mind. I’ll watch anything on any platform that looks intriguing enough, but when HBO is connected, I’m even more likely to watch it.
That’s why for Warner Bros. It made absolutely no sense for Discovery to remove the name of one of the most respected brands in show business by shortening HBO Max to just Max . HBO hasn’t disappeared: the channel is still an important part of the streaming service, offering its back catalog as well as releasing new shows, as it always has. But there are also “Max Originals,” which are not HBO shows but are available on the platform formerly known as HBO Max. Not confusing at all.
Two years have passed since the name change, and it seems that the decision was a success. Oh, sorry, did I say success? I do not have access to internal Warner Bros. data. Discovery, but I’m guessing it was n’t a success as the company is now bringing HBO Max back from the dead.
Somehow HBO Max is back
It’s true: this summer, Warner Bros. Discovery is bringing HBO back under its platform name . You’ll no longer have to tell your friends to open up Max and watch the latest episode of Burglar or White Lotus (how many of us called it something other than HBO anyway?)
The company doesn’t necessarily admit that the name change was a bad idea, but it does offer a corporate explanation. J.B. Perrett, the company’s president and CEO of Streaming, said, “This evolution has also been influenced by changing consumer needs… No consumer today says they want more content, but most consumers say they want better content.”
Perrette also said that they had been “repeating” the idea for the past two years, and I think the company immediately regretted abandoning the HBO brand. Perrette refers to Warner Bros. CEO. Discovery by David Zaslav, who reportedly championed the idea that the company should “go back to including HBO as part of its brand because nothing signifies difference and quality like HBO.” Well, yes.
At least the official HBO X account is having fun breaking the news :
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