Warner Bros Discovery announced plans to drop HBO from HBO Max. It will now be called Max.
According to Deadline, Max combines programs from HBO Max and Discovery+. As of May 23, HBO will be known as Max.
“This is a real moment for us … This is our time. This is our chance, and everything is possible,” David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros Discover, said during a press junket, cited by Deadline. “I feel like, for our company, this is our rendezvous with destiny.”
Customers who subscribe to HBO Max will automatically transfer to Max, with no change in price. Existing customers will also have the same watch history and profiles. However, existing Discovery+ customers can upgrade to Max, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
JB Perrette, president & CEO of streaming and games for Warner Bros Discovery, said he hopes to appeal to a broader audience with the rebranding. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Perrette added that HBO may have appealed to a high-brow audience.
Perrette added: “HBO is not TV. HBO is HBO. It needs to stay that way, which is why we will privilege it in the product experience and also not push it to the breaking point by forcing it to take on the full breadth of this new content proposition.”
New programs slated to hit the new streaming service include Harry Potter, The Conjuring, a Game of Thrones spinoff, and a new Big Bang Theory, among others, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Over 96 million customers subscribe to HBO, Discovery+, and HBO Max. Warner Bros Discover has not made known the number of subscribers per app. While the company will merge HBO to HBO Max, Discovery+ will remain a solo service, according to THR.
The new merger is how the company will preserve and protect “the most iconic trailblazing brand in entertainment, David Zaslav, CEO of WarnerMedia and Discovery, said, cited by THR.