Despite HBO being the pioneers of prestige television, parent company Warner Bros Discovery are dropping the iconic network’s name from its forthcoming combined streaming service.
The merged platform will combine the pre-existing HBO Max and Discovery+ services under the banner ‘Max’.
According to CNBC, the name is currently being vetted by Warner Bros Discovery’s legal team.
The service is currently referred to internally under the codename BEAM, according to insiders.
The service is likely to look like the Disney+ platform, with a landing page showing the various networks and studios as separate portals.
HBO, Discovery, DC Comics and Warner Bros are among these hubs – so Warner Bros Discovery aren’t burying the HBO title altogether.
According to reports from “people familiar with the matter” the decision was made in order to avoid diluting the HBO brand by putting other less-prestigious content under the same banner.
The fear is that users will use HBO as a shorthand for the entire streaming service, rather than the premium network behind titles such as Euphoria, Succession, Girls, The Sopranos, Sex and the City, and other critically-acclaimed titles.
A Warner Bros. Discovery spokesperson told CNBC a name was “still being discussed.”
