Warner Bros. Discovery wants to rename HBO Max as just “Max”

To avoid diluting HBO’s reputation for prestige, execs may change the name of HBO Max once they import all of the reality TV stuff from Discovery+.

Since Warner Bros. merged with Discovery to create the newest mega-media conglomerate on the block, the news has mostly been bad. The newly formed company Warner Bros. Discovery fired a lot of employees, cancelled fan events, purged content, and even junked movies that were practically already finished and ready to go. All of this was done in the name of cutting costs to get the company out from under a mountain of debt, and now the executive team has a new plan: eliminate letters.

You see, now that the two companies have merged, there are plans to mash together Discovery’s Discovery+ streaming service with HBO Max, which was created by Warner Bros. According to CNBC, executives are seriously considering naming the new combined service simply “Max.”

Part of the thinking among executives is that retaining the “HBO Max” name after importing all of the content from Discovery+ will dilute HBO’s reputation for prestige. In the Streaming Wars, HBO Max has kind of become the “classy streamer,” carrying a lot of Emmy-nominated programming like Succession and Hacks. Discovery+, meanwhile, is best known as the home of spinoffs in the Property Brothers and 90 Day Fiancé cinematic universes. I don’t say that as a judgment: I enjoy a House Hunters binge as much as the next guy, but Discovery’s focus on low-rent reality TV doesn’t exactly jive with HBO’s Emmy-bait catalog.

The new service, whatever it ends up being called, is due out in the spring of next year, so we’ll probably have some official news soon. Per Variety, executives are mulling a price hike for the combined service, which could be hard to swallow given that, at $15 per month for the ad-free tier, HBO Max is already one of the more expensive streaming services on offer.

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