In a move that is both nostalgic and strategic, Warner Bros. Discovery announced its revival of its old streaming brand name, HBO Max, marking the end to the two-year “Max” branding experiment. The rebranding will be effective this summer and will seek to redirect the platform back to its greatest strength—HBO.
A Full-Circle Moment: Back to the Brand That Built Prestige
The news broke during Warner Bros. Discovery’s upfront presentation at Madison Square Garden, New York. CEO David Zaslav announced that the streaming service would again start operating under the HBO Max brand. It’s a major about-face from the company’s 2023 move to remove “HBO” from the name and rebrand as just “Max.”
“The strong growth we have experienced in our international streaming business is based on the quality of our programming,” stated Zaslav. “Today, we are reintroducing HBO, the highest quality media brand, to further fuel that growth in the coming years.”
Why Drop Max
When Max debuted in 2023, the reason for removing “HBO” was not just to create a new brand but also to make the platform more inclusive. Warner Bros. Discovery had just merged with Discovery Communications, and the new platform was supposed to combine HBO’s high-end content with Discovery’s vast library of lifestyle and reality shows.
Executives pinned their hopes that this transition would make the service a viable rival to entertainment juggernauts such as Netflix. Instead, though, the move generated brand confusion. Customers, as well as some insiders within the industry, wondered whether the premium programming from HBO was getting watered down or cut entirely.
The Pivot: Leaning Into What Works
It was based on user activity and brand awareness, HBO and Max Content Chairman and CEO Casey Bloys said. “It really is a response to being in the marketplace for two years, assessing what’s working and really leaning into that,” Bloys said.
JB Perrette, CEO and President of Streaming, reaffirmed this, declaring that customers don’t want infinite library as much as they do high-quality, distinctive programming. “We began listening to customers saying, ‘Hey, we don’t necessarily want more content, we want something that is different.'”
HBO Content Still Dominates
User data showed a distinct pattern: the majority of subscribers were listening for HBO originals such as The White Lotus, The Last of Us, and Succession, along with blockbuster Warner Bros. movies and select licensed content such as A24 films and documentaries.
In the meantime, most of Discovery’s content has not picked up, with the lifestyle and reality programming sitting out in large parts. ID network shows fared decently but food and home improvement shows flew under the radar. Discovery+ will remain available as a freestanding offering for the supporters of that genre.
A Growing Platform With Global Ambitions
In spite of previous missteps, Max has recently demonstrated encouraging signs. The service gained five million new subscribers during the first quarter of 2025, boosting its worldwide subscriber total to more than 122 million. It also reached profitability—not a minor accomplishment given the densely populated streaming marketplace.
Max recently rolled out in Australia and France and will roll out into the UK, Germany, and Italy in 2026.
A Return to Prestige Branding
The rebrand has already started to take visual form. Over the past few weeks, Max subtly changed its app color scheme from the 2023 “Max Blue” to HBO’s iconic black-and-white color scheme, foreshadowing the impending changes.
Casey Bloys stressed that the name HBO Max more accurately describes what is going on with the service now. “It says our tacit commitment to bring content that’s known to be distinctive and— to borrow a line we always uttered at HBO—worth paying for.
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