Psych! Max is going to be HBO Max again

Just as we were growing accustomed to the term “Max,” HBO Max will soon revert to its original name. 

The head-spinning move, slated to take effect this summer, was announced Wednesday morning during Warner Bros. Discovery’s upfront event in New York City, and the idea behind the re-rebrand is, well, I’ll just let them say it: 

“Returning the HBO brand to HBO Max will further drive the service forward and amplify the uniqueness that subscribers can expect from the offering. It is also a testament to WBD’s willingness to keep boldly iterating its strategy and approach—leaning heavily on consumer data and insights—to best position itself for success.”

Well, it’s a testament to something, all right, if not Warner Bros.’s ongoing indecisiveness over what HBO Max—er, Max—ah, I mean HBO Max—should be. 

The original decision to rebrand HBO Max as “Max” came after the 2022 merger between then-HBO parent WarnerMedia and Discovery, which formed a new media conglomerate called Warner Bros. Discovery. 

Company execs wanted to merge Discovery’s more family-friendly fare with HBO’s signature adult programming, and the new name—Max—was intended to signal the streamer’s “broader content offering.” Put another way, while HBO and Discovery on their own offered “something for some people,” the new Max would serve up “a broad array of quality choices for everybody.”  

But right away, the name “Max” just didn’t sit right. Streamers kept calling it “HBO Max,” new branding be damned, while Warner Bros. Discovery executives kept dithering over what was an “HBO” original and what was a “Max” original. For example, shows that were originally intended to be Max Originals, like the upcoming Harry Potter series and an It prequel called Welcome to Derry were abruptly switched to HBO Originals. The result? Confusion all around is not the thing you want when trying to establish a new brand. 

Then, in late 2024, something even stranger happened: HBO and Max passed on new episodes of Sesame Street, the beloved kids’ show that had called HBO home since 2016. (Max—or HBO Max—will still keep existing Sesame Street shows in its streaming library.) Soon after, Max dropped several popular animated shows, including Teen Titans, Ed, Edd n’ Eddy, and The Looney Tunes Show. Suddenly, the family-friendly Max wasn’t looking so family-friendly anymore. 

Now, by going back to the HBO Max brand, Warner Bros. Discovery seems to have gone full circle, embracing an HBO name that’s served it so well over the years—a name that’s represented high-end programming for grown-ups. 

The company said so much in its press release announcing the re-rebrand today, noting that it is focusing on “programming that is working best, like HBO, recent box-office movies, docuseries, certain reality series, and Max and local originals, and de-prioritizing other genres that drive less engagement or acquisition. 

In any event, welcome back, HBO Max. Hopefully you’ll stay awhile this time.