HBO Max became Max. Now Warner Bros Discovery officially rebrands it as HBO Max again. Heading to the UK in 2026.
Warner Bros Discovery couldn’t really be accused of handling the Max streaming service swimmingly well, at least when it comes to its branding. The company, which is about to demerge and reward its CEO, David Zaslav, for messing things up, rebranded HBO Max as Max a few years ago. Today, it’s the day when Max becomes HBO Max again.
This is the streaming service that Warner Bros runs in assorted territories around the world, and it has a solid subscriber base for it too. What’s curious is why it decided to throw the HBO name away in the first place and the reversal of that decision suggests it wasn’t an entirely successful move.
Still, as of today, the name has reverted, and the UK launch for the service is being plotted for early 2026. This is a big part of the global rollout for HBO Max, and in the UK, Warner Bros has had to wait until its HBO deals with Sky have come to an end. When HBO Max does finally launch as an independent entity in the UK next year, Sky will instead offer it as part of its bundles, in the same way it has done with Paramount’s Paramount+ streaming service.
A Warner Bros Discovery press release said of the decision to re-adopt the name HBO Max 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.”
Always remember the people who write this stuff get paid more than us.
Furthermore, it added that “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.”
Translation: we muffed up, but changed it back. Let’s move on. Nothing to see here.
