They were right the first time: Max is now HBO Max, again

The streaming service Max is officially reverting to its previous name, HBO Max, which is great news for people who never stopped calling it HBO Max in the first place.

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) announced today that the streaming platform would be again called HBO Max this summer as part of a shift in strategy to focus on HBO programming and other premium content that distinguishes the streamer from its competitors. WBD first removed the name HBO Max in favor of the simplified Max in 2023, when it merged with Discovery+. After two years of testing it out, it seems viewers really just want more of the shows they like, not more of absolutely anything possible.

Some viewers might’ve noticed the quiet rebrand of Max’s visual identity last month, with set its logo and UI in a neutral HBO-style black-and-white color scheme, and which turned out to be an Easter egg of where the platform was headed. The overhauled identity now has the addition a new “HBO Max” name and logo, which stacks the HBO and Max logos together into one.

“We will continue to focus on what makes us unique—not everything for everyone in a household, but something distinct and great for adults and families,” WBD president and CEO of streaming JB Perrette said in a statement.

The company said returning to the HBO brand will “amplify the uniqueness that subscribers can expect” and comes as the streaming landscape grows increasingly crowded. WBD is planning a CNN streaming service to launch this fall, and Disney on Tuesday announced its own all-access ESPN streaming service, expected to launch around the same time. Meanwhile, Netflix is piloting features that could allow its user interface to better compete with video content on social media platforms like TikTok. All this competition means a clearly defined value proposition is increasingly important to winning consumers and owning part of the market.

So with more options than ever for what to watch, WBD is going back to betting its library is what keeps consumers subscribed. As Perrette said, “our programming just hits different.” That positioning marks a big shift from when the streaming service originally added a massive quantity of Discovery+ content, including guilty pleasure unscripted shows, to its catalogue two years ago.

Now, WBD has made the decision to let other streaming platforms fulfill viewers’ basic needs with quantity, and position HBO Max as the quality choice, with prestige shows like Succession, Game of Thrones, and The White Lotus alongside box-office movies, docuseries, and other top-performing, top-tier content.

There’s some recognition that the switch to Max a few years ago led to real brand dilution that company now wants to correct, if you read between the lines of WBD executive statements. “The powerful growth we have seen in our global streaming service is built around the quality of our programming,” WBD CEO David Zaslav said in a statement. “Today, we are bringing back HBO, the brand that represents the highest quality in media, to further accelerate that growth in the years ahead.”

Indeed, branding experts were flummoxed by HBO Max changing its name to Max when it happened, reasoning the streaming service had gotten rid of a valuable piece of brand equity. Going back to the old HBO Max name is an admission that’s the case.

Warner Bros. Discovery did not reply to a request for comment by time of publication.