Warner Bros. Discovery Continues to Take the ‘HBO’ Out of Max

The growing chasm between HBO and Max has widened to the point where you could fit a Mountain of Entertainment(™) through the two. But why would you want to?

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Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Global are engaged in talks to combine streamers Max and Paramount+, according to CNBC . Such a merger could be the lifeline Paramount+ so desperately needs and would bring HBO/Max closer to the magic 200-million-subscribers mark ; Paramount+ has more than 71 million global streaming subscribers, WBD’s direct-to-consumer platforms combine for about 100 million subs (most are Max). Or it could be a giant mistake that further dilutes the perceived quality of the former HBO Max.

When reached by IndieWire, spokespeople for both Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery declined to comment on the CNBC report. The Max/Paramount+ conversations are not totally out of the blue. For a minute in December 2023, it looked like WBD and Paramount Global might merge entirely. It was only a minute though, and David Zaslav and Bob Bakish then went their separate ways. (And then Bakish really went his separate way .)

Paramount+ is still losing hundreds of millions of dollars each quarter, and is not expected to be profitable in the U.S. until next year. Max, meanwhile, has swung to a profit. At a recent town hall, Paramount’s trio of CEOs told employees they are attempting to expedite their own profitability timeline, IndieWire has learned.

One of them, Chris McCarthy, said they will get there though more licensing, cutting costs, and finding an international partner for Paramount+. Another, George Cheeks, added that they are “looking at selling certain Paramount-owned assets” and have “already hired bankers” to assist in the process, an attendee told IndieWire. Cheeks was likely wink-winking about brands like BET; Bloomberg reports Paramount is in talks to sell BET to the channel’s own CEO, Scott Mills (and his financial backers), for $1.6 billion. Those conversations, along with Paramount+/Max, could be complicated by a deal revived in secret through which David Ellison will buy National Amusements and in turn force Paramount Global to buy his Skydance.

At the week-ago town hall, McCarthy laid out his plan for the future of Paramount+. He spoke of two options: to 1) “enter a deep, longterm relationship with a leading technology platform,” or to 2) join forces “with one of more other SVOD players.” McCarthy said he has received “tremendous interest” in both options from outside companies.

Max would be a solid Option 2 for Paramount+, but how is Paramount+ a good option for Max?

Paramount+ may not be a particularly vital platform, but it has some very good content. Its standout programming includes the NFL, Nickelodeon for the kids, and CBS for their grandparents. That is all valuable stuff — especially the football — but it would be very complicated to transfer NFL rights to Max (or more likely to a new joint venture).

Even without the NFL, Max + Paramount+ would be a strong general-entertainment platform from a content perspective. It would have sort of a Hulu/Disney+ vibe. Plus, Paramount’s Viacom cable fare used to compete directly with Zaslav’s Discovery stuff on linear TV, and now all of that unscripted programming would be housed together.

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It would also bury what remains of the HBO brand inside of Max under an entire mountain range of crap.

Max, the May 2023 combination of HBO Max and Discovery+, seems to have long-forgotten about the “HBO.” When the two first merged and emerged as Max, members of the creative community perceived the prioritization of “Max” over “HBO” to be somewhat of a burial of the prestige-TV brand. “The Sopranos” not only existed on the same streaming platform as “90 Day Fiancé,” the two were on equal footing.

The separation of HBO and Max was reinforced recently by a shift in strategy. WBD’s upcoming Harry Potter series, its “It” prequel “Welcome to Derry,” and the Green Lantern series “Lanterns” were all changed from being Max originals to being HBO originals. What’s the difference, you ask? After all, the shows will still stream on Max, which is where most people will watch them, and Casey Bloys is still the man shepherding them to potential greatness.

Like so much in Hollywood, it’s about optics and reputation.

The letters H-B-O still means something in this town. What it means to Zaslav and Bloys is the home to dramatic tentpoles of a cinematic scope, made by television auteurs. In other words: expensive TV shows with expensive talent. They know the HBO brand is much stronger than the Max brand, and Bloys is on record saying he wishes he made the strategy switch in time to include “The Penguin.”

Whatever the Max brand is is… not that. It is the brand that recently ordered 15 episodes of the Noah Wyle-starring procedural “The Pitt,” an episode number, genre, and setting (a hospital, where the “E.R.” alum is right at home) that would feel just as home on CBS — or under the CBS tile on Paramount+, possibly soon on Max.

“Max,” as in the largest amount of programming possible for the widest breadth of audience possible.