Just two weeks after Warner Bros Discovery’s streaming service Max launched in Australia on 31 March, it announced a rebrand to HBO Max. The move didn’t surprise industry watchers, following some speculation about the possible rebrand. But it was unusual to see a rebrand like this so soon after a territory launch.
On Wednesday night local time, the rebrand took effect with Max updating its apps and website to reflect the HBO Max branding. Changing a brand like this is a massive undertaking with updates required to every asset used by the business, from platforms to campaigns to stationary and more. It also requires updates to social media handles. Within a few hours of the rebrand first started rolling out, third-party platforms like YouTube reflected the new branding.
Social platform X, better known as Twitter, won’t allow HBO Max change its handle. It is stuck for the moment with the @StreamOnMax handle.
In addition to apps updating on the Apple and Google app stores, the website URL max.com now redirects to hbomax.com.
The rebrand has been timed to switch over ahead of the Emmy nominations announcement next week on 15 July.
When the rebranding was announced, Chairman and CEO of HBO and Max Content Casey Bloys explained the decision: “With the course we are on and strong momentum we are enjoying, we believe HBO Max far better represents our current consumer proposition.
“And it clearly states our implicit promise to deliver content that is recognized as unique and, to steal a line we always said at HBO, worth paying for.”
The HBO Max brand was first introduced on 27 May 2020 under then-owners AT&T. The US telco later spun off the WarnerMedia assets to merge them with Discovery Inc forming the new Warner Bros Discovery. The brand was then deemed limiting, with a desire to supercharge the platform with a library combining Discovery’s reality and lifestyle content with the premium drama offering from HBO. This led to the introduction of the simplified Max brand on 23 May 2023, which is now being retired just over two years later.
The rebrand is taking place globally, with updates issued in all territories where Max is streaming. Customers will not be required to download new apps, with the new brand visible in the next app update. Some users may find that they need to log back in following the app update.