

Ultimately, that's HBO's superpower, and Zaslav knows it. That gives us time to truly absorb major events (like the most recent Succession shocker), and space to anticipate what comes next. In this era of streaming networks dumping mountains of content on us, it's somewhat refreshing to have premium shows airing weekly. No matter what it's called, we'll still rush to Max to catch the latest episode of Succession or The Last of Us. It would have been nice to see WB highlight one of its most prominent properties, but lopping off the first half of HBO Max probably makes more sense than trying to hype up another ridiculous media name (Hulu somehow made it work, but Quibi will forever sound dumb). We're awash in terribly-named streaming services, like Peacock and Paramount+. Let me be truly cynical: It doesn't really matter what Max is called.
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If you want to see Game of Thrones or the upcoming Flash movie in 4K, you'll need to spend $4 more for Max's "Ultimate tier." That's similar to Netflix's 4K strategy, so it's not entirely surprising, but it's still annoying. Of course, WB is also trying to "optimize monetization" by raising the subscription cost for 4K viewers. These are basic features for any modern subscription service, so it's shocking to learn that HBO Max couldn't manage them on its own. A carousel of personalized recommendations should help to surface content users may ignore, and WB says Max will also be able to alert people if their subscription payments fail. The company says it's aiming to increase engagement (having a ton of new content helps!), enhance retention, strengthen performance and optimize monetization. is trying to fix many of HBO Max's underlying problems. As one WB executive pointed out, the company used to see double-digit shares of kids programming across their many networks, but that's "virtually disappeared" in the streaming era.
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A cautious parent may not want to subscribe to an HBO service, even if it was the only way to watch a new Discovery series for kids. I also bet that Zaslav and crew talked to plenty of advisors and focus groups who made it clear that HBO would never be considered as family-friendly as Disney. But they also hinted that the company didn't want to stuff too much into "HBO" as a concept. executives stressed that the company wanted to highlight HBO's world-renowned branding - "HBO is not TV, HBO is HBO!" someone proclaimed boldly. (Media executives just can't help themselves, remember Jeffrey Katzenberg's Quibi?) So long HBO Max, hello something that combines HBO's prestigious content with Discovery's vast library of unscripted reality shows. leader, Zaslav likely wanted to make a mark with a service of his very own.

The company tried to make it seem more popular by saying it had 23.6 million "wholesale" subscribers, but those were mostly existing HBO customers who had never touched the HBO Max app.Īs a relatively new Warner Bros. A month after HBO Max arrived, AT&T (TimeWarner's owner at the time) said the service only had 4.1 million active users. But it couldn't compete with Disney's seemingly limitless library of content. HBO Max was a blatant attempt to catch up with Disney+, which hit 10 million subscribers just a day after its debut.

HBO Max's May 2020 launch was notoriously rocky, so much so that it led to a round of executive firings. Now, to be clear, Zaslav's desire to build something new makes sense.
