The first details of Warner Bros.' new streaming service have been revealed in anticipation of its official announcement.
Ever since the Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) merger took place over a year ago, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav has been working on an HBO Max replacement for the entertainment giant.
This new streaming service would combine the company's two current offerings (HBO Max and Discovery+), allowing users access to everything from the HBO and Warner catalog, along with the more reality-based fare of Discovery and TLC.
This comes in addition to a reported free ad-supported streaming service WBD has in the works.
The New HBO Max
Warner Bros. Discovery is set to unveil its new streaming service, combining HBO Max and Discovery+.
According to a new report from New York Times (NYT), the service will be officially announced on Wednesday, April 12, bringing together HBO titles like The Sopranos and Game of Thrones with various Discovery series (i.e. Dr. Pimple Popper and Fixer Upper).
NYT noted that the service will seemingly be called Max and will launch sometime in May or June. Max will cost $16 a month, the current price of HBO Max, the service it is set to replace.
According to people with knowledge of Warner Bros. Discovery's plans, Max's official announcement will be just over an hour. No stars will be involved in the event; instead, the event will focus solely on the service, marketing, and a few TV and movie announcements as well.
It remains unclear how existing HBO Max subscribers will be migrated over to the new service, but that will reportedly be addressed during the announcement event.
Discovery+ will remain a standalone app alongside the newly-unveiled Max.
What to Expect from Warner Bros.' New Streaming Service?
This new HBO Max replacement has been a long time coming for Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). Since CEO David Zaslav took over after the WBD merger last April, the executive has been assuring stockholders that a new service was coming that would better appeal to mass audiences.
While many love their HBO Max subscription, the HBO branding is a turn-off for a lot of people who find HBO content inaccessible.
While HBO Max has been a lot more than simply a place to take in the latest in prestige HBO television, someone without that knowledge would not know that by simply looking at the service's name. That is why this rebrand has been so critical for the new WBD regime.
And they are going to put everything they can into it, attempting to better streamline their content, and offering a streaming solution that feels a bit more friendly to mass audiences.
What will be exciting to see is what kind of big guns the Hollywood giant brings out alongside the Max announcement. There has been mention of new TV and movie announcements coming as well.
Some have speculated WBD's new Harry Potter reboot series could be among the projects discussed at the event, following recent reports the studio was nearing a deal to develop the seven-season show with controversial creator J.K. Rowling.
With this new service seemingly being the streaming home of DC (aside from a few instances of projects being shopped elsewhere), it will be interesting to see if there is anything from the super-powered brand brought out on stage to help sell the new service.
Max is set to be unveiled on Wednesday, April 12.
