Hollywood. The land of mid. Mid-performance. Mid-acumen. Mid-ideas. Mid-talent. Across Tinseltown, we frequently see decisions and performance that would severely limit careers in any other industry, somehow either excused or spun into a victory story. Like this one. Another rebranding of Max.
While a collective of executives are no doubt touching each other with congratulatory excitement at delivering this outcome, the rest of us just point and laugh.
First launched by Warner Bros. as HBO Max in 2020, the streaming service was rebranded Max two years ago, while it was sort of merged with Discovery content to create what they hoped was a potential streaming behemoth.
Think about that for a second. A brand name so revered in customers’ minds. The home of The Sopranos, Game Of Thrones, and The Wire. And some suits thought it should be smushed together with the creators of content like Alaskan Bush People, Deadliest Catch, and 90 Day Fiancé. Anyone with an IQ higher than a glass of water could see this as corporate moronism of the highest degree.
Nobody in Hollywood could, though, because apparently they are all fucking idiots.
So Warner Bros. Discovery has announced they’re going back to Plan A. This summer, it will become HBO Max again. The news was broken to advertisers at an event. At the same time, a press release confirmed that Warner Bros. are spinning this as an “evolution” and that Discovery-type shows will continue to be stripped from the streamer.
Bad luck if you feel the urge to follow up The Righteous Gemstones with watching a reality show about people who live in a swamp and interfere with ducks.
The release says:
“No consumer today is saying they want more content, but most consumers are saying they want better content. With other services filling the more basic needs with volume, WBD has clearly distinguished itself through its quality and distinct stories, and no brand has done that better and more consistently over 50+ years than HBO.”
Spinning so fast as to become positively gyroscopic, they claim this is a:
“…testament to WBD’s willingness to keep boldly iterating its strategy and approach – leaning heavily on consumer data and insights – to best position itself for success.”
What this really means is “we fucked up, but we will pretend we didn’t.”
