Warner Bros. Discovery Must Protect HBO At All Costs – But Can They Actually Pull It Off?

So what does this mean, exactly? For the average viewer, it probably doesn’t mean much of anything right now. When these shows begin rolling out in 2025 and beyond, they will still stream on Max. The biggest difference is that they will also air on HBO, potentially opening them up to a bigger audience. That strategy has served shows like “House of the Dragon” and “The Last of Us” quite well, as they’ve gained huge audiences. Allowing these new shows to air on HBO 1) offers some prestige and 2) mitigates some risk that they will just get lost in the never-ending streaming void.

“For a show that feels big and cinematic, they already are going to make the assumption that it feels like an HBO show,” Bloys said in the interview. “This is just leaning into that.” Indeed, the shows in question do sort of feel like they would be right at home on HBO. So, how does Max factor into this? And what does a Max original look like in the future? Bloys also addressed that:

“I do think it is helpful to have a brand that doesn’t put the expectations or the intention of an HBO show. If it’s not designed to do that, it shouldn’t have to. I like having that flexibility, that you can experiment with things creatively, format-wise.”

That is a telling answer. Bloys (and everyone at WBD) knows that HBO is a pillar of the entertainment world. You can’t just make every Max original an HBO show, as it would run the risk of diluting the brand. That’s why I argued that removing the HBO name from HBO Max last year was good for the network. Sure, it created brand confusion with the streamer, but that might not be as important in the long run as preserving HBO’s integrity.