Streaming service Max, launched recently in Australia, will soon change its name back to HBO Max, which was its original name until just a couple of years ago. Confused? You should be.
The change from HBO Max to Max was made in 2023 as part of a strategy by executives at Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) to grow the reach of the streaming service, home to popular shows such as The White Lotus and The Last of Us.
David Zaslav, president and CEO of Warner Bros Discovery, said in a media statement:
‘The powerful growth we have seen in our global streaming service is built around the quality of our programming. Today, we are bringing back HBO, the brand that represents the highest quality in media, to further accelerate that growth in the years ahead.’
As to why the change was made from HBO Max to Max in the first place, the head of streaming, JB Perrette, was quoted in The Guardian as saying HBO was seen as not the sort of place ‘parents would most eagerly drop off their kids’ – a reference, presumably, to the mature themes and colourful language of major HBO hits such as The Sopranos and Curb Your Enthusiasm.
So, what will this mean for Max subscribers? Not much, it seems – only that come ‘summer’ (in the northern hemisphere) what was once called HBO Max will again be called HBO Max, whether or not you got used to just calling it Max in the interim.
The media release, which came with a screenshot of Ross Geller from the 90s comedy Friends, and his running joke/ complaint to on-off love interest Rachel Green that ‘we were on a break!’, also made mention of WBD’s ambition to scale globally towards 150 million subscribers by the end of 2026.
‘WBD’s streaming business has incredible momentum, turning around its profitability by almost $3B in just two years and scaling globally with 22M subscribers added over the past year, with a clear path to over 150M+ by the end of 2026.
‘This is thanks to an enormous amount of hard work, investment and re-focusing the strategy on the programming that is working best like HBO, recent box-office movies, docuseries, certain reality series, and Max and local originals, and de-prioritising other genres that drive less engagement or acquisition.’
Whether the latest rebrand helps, hinders or makes no difference at all remains to be seen.
Read: ScreenHub’s review of The White Lotus Season 3, currently streaming on Max:
Parker Posey can always be relied upon to ramp up the camp with off-the-wall line readings. But even this consummate pro plays it a little too broad here, making a meal of her southern drawl-emitting, pill-popping matriarch Victoria.
Jason Isaac, as her many-furtive-phone-calls businessman husband (ten aplenty in this show), pales in comparison. And while the dynamic between their kids, Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger), little bro Lochlan (Sam Nivola) and more sensible sis Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook) would keep Freud in good suits, they don’t feel overly fresh on this show’s Cluedo board.
Way too much time is wasted on another tired trio in backstabbing buddies: Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan), too vaguely established as an it and a bit actor, and her even less well-defined mates Laurie (Carrie Coon) and Kate (Leslie Bibb), ensuring each of the hour-too-long episodes sags when they slag one another.
The way-off pacing is further hampered by another crime against great acting, relegating the magnificent Walton Goggins to the surly, say-almost-nothing role of Rick, who is, you guessed it, another nefarious dealings-mumbled-into-phones type. Read more …
