FILE PHOTO: The exterior of the Warner Bros. Discovery Atlanta campus in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. May 2, 2023. REUTERS/Alyssa Pointer/File Photo
(Reuters) - Warner Bros Discovery is hitting rewind on Max's branding, bringing back the HBO name it dropped from the streaming service two years ago.
The company will rebrand its streaming platform as HBO Max this summer, betting that the iconic brand's global reputation will drive subscriber growth as it expands internationally.
The return to HBO Max also marks an "implicit promise" by the company to deliver unique and premium content, WBD said on Wednesday. HBO is home to some of the most popular, critically-acclaimed series including "Game of Thrones," "The Sopranos" and "True Detective."
"Today, we are bringing back HBO, the brand that represents the highest quality in media, to further accelerate that growth in the years ahead," CEO David Zaslav said.
WBD's decision to drop HBO from HBO Max in 2023 followed its move to merge HBO dramas and top franchises like "Harry Potter" with lifestyle-focused content from Discovery under one service.
The goal was to offer a more appealing product and to help retain viewers who typically canceled their subscriptions after watching the latest season of their favorite show.
But it saw strong backlash from audiences.
Even Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix, called the move a surprise. "I would have never guessed HBO would have gone away. They put all that effort into one thing that they can tell the consumer - it should be HBO," he said in a Variety interview in March.
Streaming has become a major growth area for WBD as its cable TV business suffers from cord-cutting.
Shows including "The White Lotus" and "The Pitt" helped it amass 5.3 million streaming subscribers in the January-March quarter, taking its total to 122.3 million. The company expects its subscriber base to exceed 150 million by the end of 2026.
A key driver of that growth has been international expansion. After rolling out Max in over 70 countries last year, WBD plans to launch the service in the UK, Ireland, Italy and Germany.
(Reporting by Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)
