HBO has been a renowned brand for many years. Upon Netflix coming along and essentially disrupting the entertainment industry's traditional business model, multiple studios scrambled to put together their own version of an on-demand entertainment platform. This led to Disney+. Paramount+, Apple TV+, and, of course, HBO Max. Having Warner Bros.' extensive content library at its disposal, the latter showed great promise. Then, an unexpected development happened.
In 2023, HBO Max was annnounced to be rebranding to "Max." The move puzzled many. With HBO being a premier source of entertainment, dropping it from the name of WBD's flagship streaming platform seemed to be a mistake. And, it was. In May 2025, Warner Bros. Discovery announced Max would be renamed once again, back to "HBO Max." Now, HBO Max CEO Casey Bloys has opened up about the initiative to rename the streamer.
Speaking to reporters at HBO Max's New York offices (via The Hollywood Reporter), Bloys acknowledged that rebranding the service to Max was a misstep, an example of companies losing their identity in their race to catch up to Netflix: "To Netflix's credit, as the first mover, they have become a utility for consumers. In retrospect, we can all see that the streaming industry's race for volume, years ago, found many brands losing their identity."
Bloys explained that, after doing research, the company realized viewers didn't want just another Netflix. Instead, they needed variety in their entertainment:
"[Netflix] is the basic cable of today, and in today's world, consumers still want to add to their entertainment portfolio with must-have truly unique programming that only we can deliver. We looked at all the research and came back to what they want are HBO originals, pay-one movies, the Warner Bros. TV library, the procedurals, for lack of a better word, but the elevated network [programming] that we're working on, documentaries, comedy specials."
The CEO then stated HBO was getting out of the practice of delivering too much content: "We just came back from trying to offer too much, so we are trying to be very specific in what people value from us, and want from us."
Another issue with the streamer's content was the lack of a clear distinction between Max and HBO Originals. The company seemed to be very specific with the type of projects it attached the singular "HBO" brand to, such as The Idol and The Penguin. On the other hand, there were shows that appeared to be prestige television, such as Kaley Cuoco's The Fligh Attendant, Harley Quinn or Peacemaker that were, nonetheless, labeled "HBO Max" or "Max Originals."
As Bloys jokingly stated, even he had some trouble pinpointing exactly what differentiated the two: "Until recently, a Max Original may have been a bit nebulous for you—you've probably asked me about it—a bit nebulous for you, a bit nebulous for me." Since then, however, the company has settled on what the distinction between the two labels actually is. As he explained, Max Originals are cheaper (but still quality) shows with a higher episode count than HBO Originals:
"I can say now that Max Originals serve a very specific purpose: We are leaning into more cost-efficient, yet elevated and high quality series with a greater number of episodes that can return each year. These originals are designed to attract audiences that are adjacent to the typical HBO fans, while also feeding our strategy to deliver 52 weeks of new programming a year."
As it's been stated numerous times outside of this reporting, HBO is a powerful name in the entertainment industry. For decades, it's been associated with premier storytelling. Thus, returning Warner Bros. Discovery's streaming service to a name that people can not only recognize, but associate with quality content, is nothing but beneficial for the company.