Warner Bros. Discovery’s Combined Streamer Max to Launch May 23; Service to Offer More Family-Friendly Content
The momentous day has arrived at last! Warner Bros. Discovery held a press conference on Wednesday, April 12 to announce more details about its future in the streaming industry. WBD will roll out its new streaming platform “Max,” which will integrate content from discovery+ and HBO Max onto a new service on Tuesday, May 23.
The company has been building toward the release of a streaming platform that combined most of discovery+’s content with HBO Max since Discovery acquired WarnerMedia in spring of 2022. WBD originally planned to fully integrate discovery+ with HBO Max, but pivoted earlier this year when it became apparent that it could lose a large amount of valuable customers by sunsetting discovery+ for good.
WBD executives struck an excited and confident tone about the new service during the press event, eager to show off how hard they’ve been working to get Max up and running over the past months.
“From the biggest superheroes to real life champions; from dramas to taste-shaping entertainment; from fantastical realms to the realest of worlds, Max will offer an unrivaled range of choice,” said J.B. Perrette, WBD’s global streaming head.
There were a ton of details released about the new service at the press conference, including its official name. WBD reportedly settled on the name “Max” as far back as December of 2022, but stringently denied that was the title they were going with. More and more signs pointed to that being the eventual moniker for the service since December, but official word didn’t come down until the April 12 press conference.
Perrette also announced the new service would be a much more family-friendly place, despite all of the HBO content that’s strictly for adult audiences.
“We want Max to be welcoming to all, including to a key customer segment: kids and families,” Perrette said. “It’s a brand that has been built over five decades to be the edgy, groundbreaking trendsetter in entertainment for adults, but it’s not exactly where parents would most eagerly drop off their kids. And yet, Warner Bros. Discovery has some of the best known kids characters, animation and brands in the industry.”
“Not surprisingly, the category has not met its true potential on HBO Max,” he continued. “We see this as a meaningful new engagement opportunity.”
Perrette noted the company has brands like Cartoon Network, Boomerang, DC Comics, Hanna Barbera, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and Looney Tunes to help the service grow its reputation as a service for the entire family, not just adults. This reinvigorated focus on kid-friendly content is a far cry from the song WBD was singing in December, when it had just finished slashing children's offerings on HBO Max and announced it was licensing the animation rights to some DC characters to Prime Video.
There’s still plenty more information to come about Max in the weeks between now and May 23, when it will officially be available to the public. But now users know when they’ll be able to access the service, and a little more about what kind of content to expect on it once it’s live.
Max
Max is a subscription video streaming service that gives access to the full HBO library, along with exclusive Max Originals. There are hubs for content from TLC, HGTV, Food Network, Discovery, TCM, Cartoon Network, Travel Channel, ID, and more. Watch hit series like “The Last of Us,” “House of the Dragon,” “Succession,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” and more. Thanks to the B/R Sports add-on, users can watch NBA, MLB, NHL, March Madness, and NASCAR events.
How to Enter the Max Annual Subscription Giveaway
Given the announcement, we’re giving away an annual subscription to the new Max platform. Enter below.
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