'HBO is HBO'

HBO was once a disruptive force in television. While it dominated the premium cable TV landscape, HBO has struggled to find its place in the streaming world, where it's used the HBO Max moniker. Today HBO held a long-awaited event to announce a new streaming strategy it hopes will put the company back in the driver's seat.

"From the very beginning, there was obvious brand confusion between HBO and HBO Max," Lightshed Partners analyst Rich Greenfield wrote this morning. 

“HBO is Not TV. HBO is HBO," the company said during the event today. 

"On May 23, HBO Max is becoming Max — The One To Watch for all of HBO, hit series, movies, reality, and more," HBO Max tweeted during the announcement.

HBO has had plenty of recent creative success. But it's looking for bigger, Netflix-style reach. My colleague Connor Smith covered the company's press event today. He reports:   

The company’s HBO Max service has been known for blockbuster shows such as The White Lotus and Succession, but now the flagship platform will go by the name Max and feature content from Discovery and the firm’s larger library of media brands.  The company hopes to reach a broader audience by dropping the premium-sounding HBO name.

The new service, which starts May 23, will cost $9.99 a month for an ad-supported version and $15.99 for an ad-free tier. That's in line with the current pricing for HBO Max. A third level, which includes 4K video, will cost $19.99 a month.

HBO announced plenty of new content during its event today. "The most notable announcement was a scripted series adapting J.K. Rowling’s seven Harry Potter books. The show will go into more detail than the films and feature a new cast," Connor writes. 

Prior to the event, Greenfield had written, "The key question is whether the Max transformation is enough to make it a differentiated, daily destination for subscribers?

The immediate answer from investors, seemed to be no. Shares of HBO-parent Warner Bros Discovery closed the day down 5.8%, their worst performance this year.

It's still been a strong start to the year for WBD. The stock is up 48% in 2023, making it the fifth best performer in the S&P 500.