After a year of experimenting with the simplified name “Max,” Warner Bros. Discovery is officially bringing back “HBO Max” and the change takes effect this Wednesday, 9th July.
According to sources inside the company, the rebranding won’t be rolled out in one fell swoop, but by Wednesday morning users across WBD’s streaming territories will begin to see the “HBO Max” logo return across their apps.
The move comes just in time for the 2024 Emmy nominations on July 15, and it’s a strategic pivot that Warner Bros. Discovery had signaled back in May during its upfront presentation. That’s when the company first announced it would reinstate the HBO brand after quietly sidelining it in 2023 in favor of the broader “Max.”
In a press release issued at the time, WBD stated that “returning the HBO brand into HBO Max will further drive the service forward and amplify the uniqueness that subscribers can expect from the offering. It is also 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.”
During the upfront presentation, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav reinforced the move, saying, “The powerful growth we have seen in our global streaming service is built around the quality of our programming. Today, we are bringing back HBO, the brand that represents the highest quality in media, to further accelerate that growth in the years ahead.”
HBO Max originally launched in 2020 as a premium extension of the HBO brand, but in 2023 the platform dropped the “HBO” moniker in favor of a broader identity as “Max” — a move meant to reflect a wider variety of content. Internally and externally, the reversal has sparked reactions ranging from bemusement to open mockery.
“I know you’re all shocked, but the good news is I have a drawer full of stationary from the last time around,” HBO and Max content chief Casey Bloys joked to the upfronts crowd.
CMO Shauna Spenley leaned into the moment with a pop culture nod, sharing a Superman-themed version of the famous Spider-Man pointing meme, labeling the trio as “HBO Go,” “Max,” and “HBO Max.” She added that she “couldn’t wait to see how ‘Last Week Tonight’ host John Oliver will mock the name change on his next episode.”
Sure enough, Oliver delivered. On his show, he lampooned the constant identity changes of the streamer:
“Sometimes, hypothetically, before we can get used to one dumb name,” he said, showing the HBO Go logo, “some genius comes along and only makes it dumber” (HBO Now). “Then, somehow it gets dumber still” (HBO Max) “and against all the odds it becomes even worse” (Max) “before inexplicably going back to the stupid thing it was before” (HBO Max).
Even HBO’s social media team got in on the fun. The official “Stream on Max” account — which will soon be renamed — updated its X bio with a tongue-in-cheek farewell: “These rebrands are trying to murder me.”
Despite the self-deprecating humor, the return to HBO Max signals a renewed commitment to the platform’s prestige programming roots — and a recognition that “HBO” remains a brand that audiences trust for quality.
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