If you click over to your Max.com account today, you’ll find that it redirects to HBOMax.com. The streaming service formerly known as HBO Max (and also Max, HBO Now, and HBO Go) is HBO Max again. The deep blue of Max.com is gone, replaced by the darker tones of HBO Max—a reminder that HBO Max means business.
To recap: In 2023, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav merged HBO and WB content with Discovery+ content into a single platform, Max.com, designed to be “for everyone,” which is to say, Zaslav tried to compete with Netflix. In doing so, he also erased a slew of programming (including Westworld, Made for Love, and many animated series), canceled the Batgirl movie, and damaged the HBO brand. Two years later, Zaslav finally realized what we all knew from the beginning: HBO subscribers don’t care about Discovery content and have no need for another Netflix because we already have a Netflix.
Now, after reverting to HBO Max, Zaslav is spinning off not just Discovery+ content but also its linear cable properties, like TNT and TBS (which lost NBA rights), Food Network, HGTV, TLC, and CNN, into a new company that will continue to die a slow death. At the same time, HBO Max refocuses on new HBO content and the Warner Bros. movie library.
And through it all, the seven-season Harry Potter series continues production, though no one really wants it. The good news, however, is that The Pitt will return in January.
There’s no need to update your apps; they’ll update automatically. Now, if only we could reset the last two years of America. Do that, Zaslav, and you’ll actually earn your obscene salary.
