RIP Max streaming service

Wasn't it originally called HBO Max? Are they just switching back?
 
HdFO8y3.gif


Lmao the rebrand everyone told them was retarded turned out to be….retarded. WB is run by actual village idiots.
 
Always seemed odd to ditch the HBO name when people generally think quite favourably of that, whereas Max doesn't really mean anything to anyone.
 
EviLore said:
Yeah. Some executive's bright idea to throw away billions of dollars in branding and reputation by dropping HBO from the name in 2023.
Click to expand...
This always baffled me.

Funny enough I still have HBO Max app downloaded on my TV.

For about a year, I was accidentally opening the wrong app. Stupid me for clicking on an app that says HBO when trying to access HBO…
 
Has always been HBO Max here in EU since its introduction I believe; maybe that's the reason for the change, have one brand worldwide.
 
Ditching the HBO name was always insane.
You have one of the most recognizable names in TV which, maybe even more importantly, has always been associated with high quality premium content....and you are ditching it for fucking "Max"?
 
near said:
Good decision to revert back.


It's coming early next year.
Click to expand...

It's going to be offered via sky. Maybe like paramount +. The current warners sky contract across Europe was ending. I believe they agreed a new deal at the start of the year for the uk and other European countries.

I did also hear it was going to launch around April or may 2026. They haven't confirmed if a cost is involved though.

I believe the service is not tied to sky either and you can download & subscribe (in the uk)
 
The ninja farmer said:
It's going to be offered via sky. Maybe like paramount +. The current warners sky contract across Europe was ending. I believe they agreed a new deal at the start of the year for the uk and other European countries.

I did also hear it was going to launch around April or may 2026. They haven't confirmed if a cost is involved though.

I believe the service is not tied to sky either and you can download & subscribe (in the uk)
Click to expand...
Yeah. It will be bundled with Sky with an ad-supported version at no extra cost, and if you don't have Sky it will also launch as a standalone streaming service.
 
It was changed to HBO Max in Europe for a while, now it's just Max.

Because Max is a stronger brand than HBO, right? >_>

Edit: Wait I thought this was the US branding just lagging behind Europe. They're switching BACK now? Bwahaha! I mean it's the right thing to do, but fuck me this is so stupid.

Next step: Drop the 'Max', it's cleaner.
 
Last edited:
Hahahaha! Idiots.

In all seriousness, I do understand the impetus to get to "shorter name, better brand recognition" and all that comes with that. But that's kind of a hard sell considering all the factors here. They must have done a bunch of testing previously and someone interpreted the data as saying that enough people in their target group had enough positive association with what the Max name meant, or whatever, and decided that it was a good sign to go this route. And then did some follow-up testing without some bias or whatever "What do you associate with Max?" and plenty of people were like "huh? Max what?" And then they realized they made a dumb mistake.

Tune in 3̶̶ ̶y̶̶e̶̶a̶̶r̶̶s̶̶ 6 months from now when the process begins anew. "Let's ditch the BO Max and call it... H"
 
GymWolf said:
I swear i thought that was the actual name all along...
Click to expand...
Same. I cancelled a great deal of my subscriptions a while back, so I had no idea they rebranded to Max at all, so for me this rebrand just makes it what I thought it always was.

What in the hell is going on with WB's management? Games, TV, movies.....they're just a fucking mess in all areas. How are DC comics these days? Been a good while since I picked up a DC comic, so I don't know if that's on fire too or not.
 
Reizo Ryuu said:
Has always been HBO Max here in EU since its introduction I believe; maybe that's the reason for the change, have one brand worldwide.
Click to expand...
There was HBO Nordic in Scandinavia, don't know why they added Max to the name since it doesn't mean anything
 
wondermega said:
In all seriousness, I do understand the impetus to get to "shorter name, better brand recognition" and all that comes with that.
Click to expand...
Sure, but in that case why not drop the "Max" and just call it "HBO"?
 
I still call it Mr. Pibb... I've been calling it HBO Max this whole time. Now I'm correct again. It's foolish to have to change back but it's probably worse to be too full of pride to not make the change to fix the problem. If they didn't change it back, we'd be annoyed forever (for a few reasons) but if they do revert to "HBO Max" we will forget about the issue and occasionally go "Remember when those dummies at HBO dropped their own name from their own streaming service?"

"Max" alone was bad for SEO and the CEO. The CEO's name is Casey Bloys, which I checked, because I would have gone crazy if his name was Max.
 
Warner Bros. has sunk to a very low point.

They'll soon go bankrupt.

That's what they get for being self-centered and making fun of other countries and companies.

Karma is strong
 
DKehoe said:
Always seemed odd to ditch the HBO name when people generally think quite favourably of that, whereas Max doesn't really mean anything to anyone.
Click to expand...
I prefer to see the HBO letter, I immediately think of premium service... but knowing Warner Bros.
 
E-Cat said:
There was HBO Nordic in Scandinavia, don't know why they added Max to the name since it doesn't mean anything
Click to expand...
How do you think Max is a stronger brand?

HBO has been more recognized by those acronyms for many years.
 
Last edited:
Cool. I went back and looked at some of the reasoning for the change to begin with, and it looked misguided and myopic. 'Wanting to draw more attention to their kids' programming and to capture a generally broader demographic' seemed to undersell the brand strength of the HBO name. Like just about everyone else, I was also thinking, "WTF is 'Max'?" I don't know how they would expand their market share - I'm no expert - but cutting such a valuable intangible did not seem the way.

But hey, I can admire them for reversing course and for at least coming up with and executing a plan that was a response to a problem the company was facing (that is, I can see where they were coming from), which is more than I can say for Musk's brain-dead rebrand of Twitter into X, which we're still dealing with today with embarrassing qualifier language.
 
EviLore said:
Yeah. Some executive's bright idea to throw away billions of dollars in branding and reputation by dropping HBO from the name in 2023.
Click to expand...

HBO was a perfect name for a streaming service since it was built on the prestige of decades of high quality tv programming. It didn't make ANY sense to drop the HBO part and call it MAX which is the most generic thing you can come up with.
 
Paltheos said:
Cool. I went back and looked at some of the reasoning for the change to begin with, and it looked misguided and myopic. 'Wanting to draw more attention to their kids' programming and to capture a generally broader demographic' seemed to undersell the brand strength of the HBO name. Like just about everyone else, I was also thinking, "WTF is 'Max'?" I don't know how they would expand their market share - I'm no expert - but cutting such a valuable intangible did not seem the way.

But hey, I can admire them for reversing course and for at least coming up with and executing a plan that was a response to a problem the company was facing (that is, I can see where they were coming from), which is more than I can say for Musk's brain-dead rebrand of Twitter into X, which we're still dealing with today with embarrassing qualifier language.
Click to expand...

I still say Twitter and tweets. X will be rebranded to Twitter at some point, nobody likes the name X.
 
I think one of the reasons I like this announcement so much is that it's almost cathartic in this day and age hearing a company basically admit that they fucked up.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

  • Poll
Which streaming services do you subscribe to?
2
53
2K
sono replied
David Lynch - RIP
5
471
mitch1971 replied
Chick-Fil-A to launch its own streaming service
44
3K
SlimySnake replied
Duster | Official Teaser | Max
8
483
Giallo Corsa replied
RIP maggie smith
38
2K
Trogdor1123 replied
Top Bottom