Max (streaming service)

Max, formerly and commonly referred as HBO Max, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streamingservice. It is a proprietary unit of Warner Bros. Discovery Global Streaming & Interactive Entertainment, which is itself a division of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). Max first launched (as HBO Max) in the United States on May 27, 2020.
The platform offers content from the libraries of Warner Bros., Discovery Channel, HBO, CNN, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Animal Planet, Eurosport, and their related brands. The service also carries first-run original programming under the "Max Originals" banner, programming from the HBO pay television service, and content acquired via either third-party library deals (such as those with film studios for pay television rights) or co-production agreements (including, among others, those with BBC Studios and Sesame Workshop).
When the service was first launched as HBO Max, it succeeded both HBO Now, a previous HBO SVOD service; and HBO Go, the TV Everywhere streaming platform for HBO pay television subscribers. In the United States, HBO Now subscribers and HBO pay television subscribers were migrated to HBO Max at no additional charge, subject to availability and device support. HBO Max also supplanted the streaming component of DC Entertainment's DC Universe service, with its original series being migrated to HBO Max as Max Originals. The HBO Max service began to expand into international markets in 2021.
According to AT&T, HBO and HBO Max had a combined total of 69.4 million paying subscribers globally on June 30, 2021, including 43.5 million HBO Max subscribers in the U.S., 3.5 million HBO-only U.S. subscribers (primarily commercial customers like hotels), and 20.5 million subscribers to either HBO Max or HBO by itself in other countries. By the end of 2021, HBO and HBO Max had a combined total of 73.8 million paying global subscribers. At the end of Q1 2022, HBO and HBO Max had 76.8 million global subscribers.
Since the April 2022 merger of WarnerMedia with Discovery, Inc. to form Warner Bros. Discovery, Max is one of the combined company's two flagship streaming services, the other being Discovery+ (which primarily focuses on factual and reality programming from the Discovery brands). WBD initially announced plans for HBO Max and Discovery+ to merge in 2023, but the company ultimately chose to retain Discovery+. As part of the decision, WBD has migrated some Discovery+ shows to Max, while also leaving them on Discovery+. WBD went on to replace HBO Max with a newly rebranded service that launched first in the United States on May 23, 2023, shortening the service's name to "Max", introducing a redesigned user interface, and adding more Discovery content among other new series and films. The rebrand would also be applied worldwide in 2024, except in Belgium and the Netherlands where the name "HBO Max" would be retained with rebranded Max logo.
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