Why Did HBO Max Become Max? Behind the Streamer’s Relaunch Strategy

Please note, the House of the Dragon screening and panel took place on March 7, 2023.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Fred Ryan, publisher and CEO of the Washington Post, announced that he is stepping down after nine years at Jeff Bezos-owned newspaper. Ryan cited “the decline in civility” in political discourse — and “more broadly across our society” — for his decision to leave the Post to lead the newly created nonpartisan Center on Public Civility, launched by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute. In an earlier era, “Political leaders on opposite sides of the aisle could find common ground for the good of the country,” Ryan wrote in a memo to Washington Post staff announcing his departure. “Today, the decline in civility has become a toxic and corrosive force that threatens our social interactions and weakens the underpinnings of our democracy. I feel a strong sense of urgency about this issue.” (Read his memo below.)

Editor’s note: These interview was done outside of the FYC event as there was no cast or creatives panel as a part of the event.

Charley Webb might have had a team of makeup artists on hand to do her makeup when she played Debbie Dingle on Emmerdale, but it seems that she has beauty skills of her own.The 35 year old mum of three took to Instagram on Thursday, 8 June, to share a throwback snap of herself and former co-star, Emma Atkins, 48, who plays Charity Dingle - Debbie's mum - on the soap.The photo was originally posted by Emma, and Charley reposted it to reveal that she had done her friend's makeup after going on a course. Emma could be seen flashing a smile with her mouth wide open, whilst Charley smiled sweetly behind her. Over the snap, Charley wrote: "That time I did a makeup course and did her makeup.

The HBO Original documentary Being Mary Tyler Moore reveals the life of the titular actress, producer and philanthropist who dazzled family, friends and fans both on and off screen until her death in 2017.

The HBO Original documentary Being Mary Tyler Moore reveals the life of the titular actress, producer and philanthropist who dazzled family, friends and fans both on and off screen until her death in 2017.

Editor’s note: These interview was done outside of the FYC event as there was no cast or creatives panel as a part of the event.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor On Dec. 9, 2020, YouTube enacted a ban on videos that falsely claimed then-President Trump won the U.S. presidential election. Since then, according to the platform, it has removed “tens of thousands” of videos that violated the policy. As of June 2, 2023, YouTube has reversed that decision: The video giant announced that it “will stop removing content that advances false claims that widespread fraud, errors or glitches occurred in the 2020 and other past U.S. Presidential elections.” Why is YouTube making this change? The Google-owned service, in an unsigned blog post Friday, tried to explain it this way: “In the current environment, we find that while removing this content does curb some misinformation, it could also have the unintended effect of curtailing political speech without meaningfully reducing the risk of violence or other real-world harm.”

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor In a symbolic rebuke of Netflix’s top executives, company shareholders voted against approving the compensation packages of leaders including co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters. At the streamer’s June 1 annual shareholders meeting, investors failed to approve the proposed exec pay packages for 2023. But the vote was a non-binding “say on pay” measure, meaning Netflix’s board can disregard the result. The vote came after the WGA had urged investors to vote against Netflix’s exec compensation measures in a letter Tuesday. “While investors have long taken issue with Netflix’s executive pay, the compensation structure is more egregious against the backdrop of the strike,” WGA West president Meredith Stiehm wrote in the letter to Netflix shareholders.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Meta — still trying to make the metaverse happen — unveiled its next-generation VR and mixed-reality headset, the Meta Quest 3, which will ship this fall for a price point starting at $500. Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg announced the Quest 3 in an Instagram post Thursday. The headset is “the first mainstream headset with high-res color mixed reality” capabilities, according to Zuckerberg. It’s 40% thinner than the Quest 2 and “more comfortable” than its predecessor, he added. Meta’s announcement comes ahead of Apple’s 2023 Worldwide Developers Conference next week, where Apple is expected to introduce its own mixed-reality headset.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor AMC Theatres is mothballing its on-demand movie service — and moving users and their content libraries over to Vudu, the video rental and sell-through streaming platform owned by NBCUniversal’s Fandango. Starting Thursday, June 1, AMC Theatres On Demand users can transfer their accounts to Vudu, which now serves as the theater chain’s streaming platform. With the transition, the companies said, many of the movies previously purchased through AMC Theatres On Demand will be “upgraded to the highest-quality format available” on Vudu, including 4K Ultra HD. Consumers with applicable titles in their libraries will automatically receive those upgrades for free. Additionally, AMC Theatres On Demand users who are new Vudu consumers are eligible for a 15% discount on each purchase made on the service in their first month.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor DirecTV announced a multiyear deal to sell the NFL’s Sunday Ticket out-of-market games package to commercial venues in the U.S., starting with the 2023 season. Under the pact with the NFL’s EverPass Media, DirecTV will continue to offer the Sunday football games to customers including casinos, restaurants, bars, hotel lounges and retail shops. The announcement comes after DirecTV lost its 28-year hold on Sunday Ticket for consumers, with Google securing a seven-year deal with the NFL to sell the package via YouTube. The satellite TV operator didn’t announce pricing for Sunday Ticket — which includes all Sunday day games broadcast by CBS and Fox — under the new commercial agreement. In past years, DirecTV’s pricing for the package has been tiered based on fire code occupancy (FCO) rates starting at $650/season for establishments with a certified FCO of 1-100, stepping up to $6,000/season for establishments with capacity of 101-200 and even higher for larger venues.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor It’s back! MoviePass, after emerging from bankruptcy under new ownership, is launching its movie-theater subscription service nationwide ahead of the Memorial Day weekend. The service lets MoviePass members choose from more than 4,000 theater locations across the U.S., including those operated by AMC Theatres, Regal Cinemas and Cinemark. However, the reincarnated MoviePass is a far cry from the too-good-to-be-true $9.95-per-month subscription for one movie per day that the company had offered in its previous life. Plans start at $10/month for 1-3 movies per month, ranging up to $40/month for up to 30. The new MoviePass uses a credit-based system to offer different options for the total amount of films a subscriber can see each month (see plan details below).

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Jeffrey Katzenberg took a massive swing at the streaming biz with Quibi — and despite the startup’s shutdown just six months after it launched, he says he’s still proud of the effort. Katzenberg, an investor, Hollywood producer and former top studio chief, founded Quibi with former eBay and Hewlett Packard Enterprise CEO Meg Whitman. The streaming service had positioned itself as the HBO of short-form mobile video and had raised $1.75 billion before it closed its doors in late 2020 after failing to attract subscribers. Katzenberg reflected on Quibi in an interview with LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky on the latest episode of the business-focused social network’s “The Path” series. “I’m humbled by the failure,” Katzenberg said. “But I’m proud that what we tried was a moonshot.”

HBO Max and Discovery+ have merged into one streaming platform called, simply, Max. This comes following the announcement in April that the two services would combine.“From the biggest superheroes to real-life champions; from culture-shaping dramas to taste-shaping entertainment; from fantastical realms to the realest of worlds, Max will offer an unrivaled range of choice,” said JB Perrette the President & CEO of Global Streaming & Games at Warner Bros.

Selome Hailu After more than a year of fanfare caused by the 2022 merger of Warner Bros. and Discovery, David Zaslav’s WBD has finally launched Max. Branded as “the one to watch,” the new streaming service combines the offerings of HBO Max and Discovery+ into one platform. In April, WBD held an event announcing the name, launch date, ethos and next steps of the brand. Along with unveiling flashy (and controversial) plans like a new “Harry Potter” series, company execs also explained the decision to drop the prestigious HBO name from the title of the service: In short, they want to be clear that the acclaimed but certainly adult-leaning programming HBO is famous for is only a portion of the content available on Max.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor It’s the big launch day for Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max — and the newly revamped streaming service appears to encountering some technical problems right off the bat. On Wednesday morning, subscribers took to social media to complain that they were having logging in to Max, which is replacing the three-year-old HBO Max service. As reported by users, the issues spanned the Max.com website as well as mobile apps including iOS and connected-TV apps on Roku and Samsung TV. Of course, there are bound to be some problems in migrating millions of customers over to a new streaming platform. A Warner Bros. Discovery rep declined to specify how widespread the issues that users are encountering may be. The May 23 conversion from HBO Max to Max covers only the U.S.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Max, Warner Bros. Discovery’s bulked-up and revamped streaming service that takes the place of HBO Max, makes it U.S. debut on Wednesday (May 23). Max makes several subtle enhancements aimed at making the service easier to use and more engaging — while execs say it should also be more stable than HBO Max. According to the company, a “large portion” of HBO Max subscribers will have their apps automatically updated to Max — while in some cases, users will be prompted to download an updated Max app. If all goes as planned, HBO Max subscribers will have their previous plan (including their username, password and billing information), profiles, avatars, and settings including “Continue Watching” and “My List” items migrated over to the new Max.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor TikTok says Montana’s newly enacted law that would criminalize usage of the short-form video app is unconstitutional — and the app company has taken legal action to fight the state’s ban. TikTok filed a lawsuit Monday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana seeking to have the law reversed. It was signed into law last week by Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte, who said it would “protect Montanans’ private data and sensitive personal information from being harvested by the Chinese Communist Party.” TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a China-based internet conglomerate. “We are challenging Montana’s unconstitutional TikTok ban to protect our business and the hundreds of thousands of TikTok users in Montana,” the app maker said in a statement. “We believe our legal challenge will prevail based on an exceedingly strong set of precedents and facts.”

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor With HBO Max turning into Max, Warner Bros. Discovery is introducing a higher-priced plan — $19.99 per month — with an expanded bouquet of 4K Ultra HD content aimed at pushing customers to the pricier package. On Monday, the company announced that the 4K tier will feature more than 1,000 films and episodes in 4K UHD, an increase of nearly eightfold over what has been available in HBO Max. The 4K UHD content on Max will include “Game of Thrones,” “The Last of Us,” the Harry Potter films, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Dark Knight trilogy, the Matrix films and more. Additionally, all Warner Bros. movies released this year and going forward will be available in 4K UHD when they arrive on Max following their theatrical windows.