It will appear that Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming platform has undergone a little bit of an identification disaster as the corporate revealed throughout their Upfront presentation in New York Metropolis on Wednesday (Could 14) that their streamer Max would return to its former identify, HBO Max, this summer time.
So, why the switch-up…. once more? In keeping with a launch posted following the announcement, Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming enterprise has added 22 million new subscribers over the previous 12 months, with a path to 150 million plus by the top of 2026. They credit score the work, funding, and refocusing the technique on programming that’s working finest, similar to HBO, current box-office films, docuseries, sure actuality collection, and Max and native originals.
Moreover, the corporate revealed the choice was pushed by customers wanting high quality over amount in relation to content material. “The highly effective development we’ve got seen in our world streaming service is constructed across the high quality of our programming. In the present day, we’re bringing again HBO, the model that represents the best high quality in media, to additional speed up that development within the years forward,” CEO David Zaslav stated of the change.
Fellow firm execs JB Perrette and Casey Bloys supplied extra views on the identify change. Bloys, who’s the chairman and CEO of HBO and Max content material, stated, “With the course we’re on and powerful momentum we’re having fun with, we imagine ‘HBO Max’ much better represents our present client proposition. And it clearly states our implicit promise to ship content material that’s acknowledged as distinctive and, to steal a line we at all times stated at HBO, value paying for.”
“We are going to proceed to give attention to what makes us distinctive – not all the things for everybody in a family, however one thing distinct and nice for adults and households,” Perrette, who’s the president and CEO of the corporate’s streaming arm, stated. “It’s actually not subjective, not even controversial — our programming simply hits completely different.”
As subscribers will recall, HBO Max initially launched in Could 2020 and was rebranded to Max in April 2023 after the Warner Bros. Discovery merger. (When HBO Max arrived, it additionally changed HBO Go, the previous streaming service for the pay cable community’s subscribers, and the stand-alone HBO Now.)
If this flip-flopping has you somewhat flustered, you’re not alone, as followers took to social media to convey their opinions on the matter. Try a few of their funnier takes beneath.
me explaining how HBO went from HBO Now to HBO Go to HBO Max to Max then again to HBO Max pic.twitter.com/H6751it1Xc
— Spencer Barrett (@spencerbarrett) Could 14, 2025
HBO to HBO Max to Max and again to HBO Max pic.twitter.com/CiHMy98C6t
— Candice Frederick (@ReelTalker) Could 14, 2025
Warner Bros. Discovery employees having to take care of these rebrands each couple of years:
HBO Go > HBO Now > HBO Max > Max > HBO Max pic.twitter.com/s609UUFH9C— ryan w (@SourceRyan) Could 14, 2025
hbo max rebranding……………….. once more pic.twitter.com/8EM7MI1wNu https://t.co/er2ae90Kd4
— wiLL (@willfulchaos) Could 14, 2025
Max altering its identify again to HBO Max: pic.twitter.com/8Hsavl7noC
— Jeff Topolski (@JeffTopolski) Could 14, 2025
MAX getting again along with HBO pic.twitter.com/XP2JY0rgOI
— T (@teewatterss) Could 14, 2025
HBO Now grew to become HBO Go which grew to become HBO Max which grew to become Max till it grew to become HBO Max once more. https://t.co/v2qfzdwaWU pic.twitter.com/9UKhzEWJ5N
— Jonathon Norcross (@NorcrossUSA) Could 14, 2025
Max and HBO even bought in on the jokes, with their accounts sharing some foolish posts:
What she stated. pic.twitter.com/nUDClK8i9G
— HBO (@HBO) Could 14, 2025
Explaining to my mates I work at HBO Max once more. pic.twitter.com/NSJFrNXrm3
— Max (@StreamOnMax) Could 14, 2025