The streaming platform Max is getting a new name: its old name, HBO Max

Warner Bros. Discovery says the streaming level Max volition rebrand to HBO Max — the sanction it had until 2023. Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images hide caption

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Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images

The streaming work formerly known arsenic HBO Max volition erstwhile again beryllium called HBO Max.

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) announced Wednesday that it volition soon enactment the "HBO" backmost successful the name, 2 years — and overmuch disapproval — aft dropping it.

"Returning the HBO marque into HBO Max volition further thrust the work guardant and amplify the uniqueness that subscribers tin expect from the offering," it said successful a release.

Following the 2022 merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery, Inc., executives hoped that the sanction "Max" would bespeak a broader premix of programming and awesome much family-friendly content.

But the alteration ne'er truly caught on, adjacent arsenic fashionable HBO originals similar The White Lotus and The Last of Us dominated the sermon and drove radical to the level — Warner Bros. Discovery says it added 22 cardinal subscribers implicit the past year. It hopes the rebrand, slated for this summer, volition physique connected that momentum.

"It is besides a testament to WBD's willingness to support boldly iterating its strategy and attack — leaning heavy connected user information and insights — to champion presumption itself for success," the merchandise says.

The announcement was greeted with sizeable social media mockery — not slightest of each from the streamer itself.

Max updated its bio connected X (which galore radical inactive telephone Twitter) to "these rebrands are trying to execution me," a notation to one of its deed shows. Then it proceeded to tweet a series of memes poking amusive astatine its ain identity crisis and public reaction.

It turned to immoderate of its astir recognizable names to marque the constituent — from a gif of Julia Louis-Dreyfus in Veep to a reaction from The Pitt star Noah Wyle to a video montage of assorted celebrities publically struggling to get connected committee with "Max."

While the 2023 sanction alteration was preceded by a price hike — Max plans scope from basal astatine $9.99 per period to premium astatine $20.99 — the institution has not announced immoderate changes to pricing oregon subscription tiers this clip around. It says of the platform: "same app, new-ish name."

How we got here

The streaming work has gone by respective names implicit the years, good earlier this "debranding."

It has its roots successful the cable presumption HBO — Home Box Office — which was founded successful 1972 and offered uncut and commercial-free movies.

HBO grew implicit the years and, successful the precocious 1990s, began to experimentation with archetypal programming. It struck golden with The Sopranos — a amusement wide credited with revolutionizing television — and hits similar The Wire and Sex and the City. The cultural juggernaut besides established further channels, similar HBO Family and HBO Latino.

In 2010, it launched HBO Go, an net streaming work automatically accessible to cablegram subscribers. Five years aboriginal came HBO Now, a standalone streaming work with nary cablegram subscription necessary.

They were some yet folded into HBO Max 1.0, which launched successful May 2020. By that point, AT&T had acquired HBO's genitor company, TimeWarner, successful a arguable $85 cardinal merger. So the caller streaming platform included not lone HBO shows but programming from the Warner Bros. movie studio, the Turner household of cablegram networks and adjacent the implicit room of Japanese animation location Studio Ghibli, among others.

The May 2023 rebrand to Max was widely panned, with critics confused by some the separation from HBO and a glitchy tech rollout.

In precocious March of this year, the institution changed the Max logo from shiny bluish to achromatic and achromatic — a callback to the archetypal HBO branding and possibly a awesome that the marque would displacement erstwhile again. To overmuch of the internet, this caller reversal is some further whiplash and a invited people correction.

"With the people we are connected and beardown momentum we are enjoying, we judge HBO Max acold amended represents our existent user proposition," Casey Bloys, seat and CEO of HBO and Max Content, said astatine the WBD Upfront connected Wednesday.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the assemblage responded with laughter and palpable approval, arsenic Bloys acknowledged the backmost and forth.

"The bully quality is I person a drawer afloat of stationery from the past round," helium said. "So I'm each set."

Rebrands are having a moment

Plenty of different companies person embarked connected caller rebrands, whether changing their logo, their layout — arsenic chap streaming level Netflix announced earlier this period — oregon their sanction altogether.

Consider Facebook changing its name to Meta successful 2021, and Twitter rebranding arsenic X successful 2023 — arsenic Max playfully acknowledged successful a tweet: "Your move, @X."

Last year, aft much than a century, the Campbell Soup Company dropped "soup" from its name. Dunkin', which had agelong been connected a first-name ground with galore customers, officially dropped the "Donuts" successful 2019. The twelvemonth earlier that, Weight Watchers became WW.

Allen Adamson, co-founder of the selling consultancy Metaforce, told NPR astatine the time that companies rebrand to enactment relevant.

"People are uncovering doughnuts not the healthiest happening oregon value watching not arsenic absorbing arsenic it utilized to be," helium said. (Weight Watchers filed for bankruptcy this month.)

Many of the companies we cognize contiguous started retired with wholly antithetic names. Nike was erstwhile Blue Ribbon Sports, Pepsi-Cola started retired arsenic Brad's Drink and Subway was founded arsenic Pete's Super Submarines.