If you want to watch TV these days, you have a lot of options. There’s normal network TV and cable, of course, but that’s not where the action. It’s all about streaming platforms, each of which has its own original content. If you want to watch The Witcher, you’ve got to have Netflix. If you’re in the mood for The Handmaids Tale, you’ve gotta get Hulu, and when The Mandalorian comes out in November, you’ll have to subscribe to Disney+ to see it. It’s all beginning to get a bit much.
Well, it’s about to get worse, because WarnerMedia has pulled the curtain back on its all-new streaming service. It’s name: HBO Max, which is…a choice of a title. Not to be confused with HBO Go and HBO Now, which only stream HBO content, HBO Max will offer a wide variety of shows and movies to choose from, including HBO content plus a bunch more. For example, Friends is leaving Netflix and will appear on HBO Max when it debuts in the spring of 2020. Netflix is pretty broken up about that:
The One Where We Have To Say Goodbye.
— Netflix (@netflix) July 9, 2019
We’re sorry to see Friends go to Warner's streaming service at the beginning of 2020 (in The US). Thanks for the memories, gang ☕
“Anchored with and inspired by the legacy of HBO’s excellence and award-winning storytelling, the new service will be ‘Maximized’ with an extensive collection of exclusive original programming (Max Originals) and the best-of-the-best from WarnerMedia’s enormous portfolio of beloved brands and libraries,” reads the press release from WarnerMedia.
Did they really just make a pun out of “maximize”? There are red flags all over this thing.
Although it’s not clear from the press release, with all of HBO’s content appearing on HBO Max, you’d figure that HBO Go and HBO NOW will be put out to pasture. Also, HBO Max sounds like a cross between HBO and Cinemax and I won’t stand for it. Do better, WarnerMedia.
In addition to sporting shows as diverse as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Pretty Little Liars, HBO Max will also be home to original shows like The CW’s Batwoman and Riverdale spinoff Katy Keene. Looking at the promotional video above, it looks like DCEU films like The Justice League are coming to the streaming platform as well. So is the DC Universe streaming service going away too? Probably for the best on that one.
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Greg Berlanti — the man behind The CW’s Arrowverse — and Reese Witherspoon will be producing original films for HBO Max. It’ll also include shows from “Warner Bros., New Line, DC Entertainment, CNN, TNT, TBS, truTV, The CW, Turner Classic Movies, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Crunchyroll, Rooster Teeth, Looney Tunes, and more.”
The new streaming service is only possible now after AT&T acquired Time Warner back in 2018. One of the goals of that deal was to offer a “roadly distributed, robust premium content portfolio that combines leading movies and shows from Warner Bros., HBO and Turner, along with more targeted digital content from Bleacher Report, FilmStruck and AT&T’s investment in Otter Media, among others.”
In conclusion, everything is exhausting. Can I have a magic button where I watch everything?
The Great Rebundling Is Coming https://t.co/gYVuxQe1OB
— Ani Bundel (@anibundel) July 9, 2019
I guess with everyone creating their own streaming service, it will only be a matter of time before some company comes along and offers an all-in-one bundle for a set price each month…which is why people began cord-cutting and going to streaming services in the first place. We’ve come full circle, folks.
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h/t The Verge