Screenshot of Max’s homepage.
Max
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Screenshot of Max’s homepage.
Max
When you spend months promoting the debut of a new streaming service, the last thing you want customers to see on the day of your big launch is error messages and scathing comments on social media.
But that’s what happened to some subscribers Tuesday morning trying to log into the Max mega-streaming service that Warner Bros. Discovery was created to bring together content from its two largest platforms, HBO Max and Discovery+.
including me
HBO Max subscribers were supposed to transition to Max relatively easily, but this morning for 90 minutes or so while trying to convert my HBO Max subscription, I kept seeing a message like this:
Screenshot of trying to login to Max.
Eric Deggans/NPR
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Eric Deggans/NPR
Screenshot of trying to login to Max.
Eric Deggans/NPR
Other people on social media have sympathized with similar issues, remembering HBO Max. legendary past tech issues:
My connection issues resolved themselves over time – I have no idea how or why – and I was able to access the service. A Max spokesperson did not say how widespread such problems are, downplaying any failures and issuing the following statement: “You should always anticipate problems when deploying technologies of this magnitude. We can report that there were only minor issues that were quickly resolved. “
Considering the company has a total of 97.6 million subscribers on HBO/HBO Max and Discovery+, launch day disruptions are understandable. But one of the arguments for the service was improved technology, so it’s still not good to stumble on the first day, which raises deeper questions about what Max and Warner Bros Discovery are trying to do.
Will Max be better than HBO Max or just bigger?
Technical issues aside, the new Max is similar to the old HBO Max format with important changes. At launch, HBO is the only brand among all the platforms included with Max that is highlighted at the top of the homepage, and my home screen is mostly filled with links to shows from the HBO Max library. It’s probably an important transition given that Max will completely replace HBO Max and Discovery+ will remain a separate platform.
It’s also unsurprising that Max debuts days before two of HBO’s most popular shows wrap up their series on Sunday: succession another Barry. There are plenty of incentives for fans of both shows to switch to the new service, making it more likely that the company will retain subscribers and possibly even acquire new ones. But I had to scroll halfway down the home screen to find links to Discovery+ brands like TLC, HGTV, and Food Network, minimizing their impact.
The company promises over 35,000 hours of programming as well as an average of 40 new projects or TV seasons each month. Subscribers get access to all of HBO Max’s programming and “the majority of Discovery+ hours, which is 80% engagement,” whatever that means, according to a spokesperson.
This is important: since many consumers no longer have physical copies of the media they consume, when a major streaming service changes operations, it can redefine the amount of content available to a wide range of viewers.
(One thing I’ve noticed: Max offers a lot more image options to use as “avatars” – photos or graphics you can attach to your account to represent yourself – including characters from Succession, Soprano another Dragon House. But I had to scroll through seven rows of options before I got to the image of a black man, which disappointed me.)
How much does it cost anyway?
Colin Farrell will play in the new series “Max” Penguin.
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Colin Farrell will play in the new series “Max” Penguin.
Max
For starters, Max has three subscription tiers: with ads for $9.99/month or $99.99/year; no ads for $15.99/month or $149.99/year; and a “max” ad-free subscription with extra features for $19.99/month or $199.99/year. HBO Max subscribers get access to Max for the same price as their original subscription, which is why Warner Bros. Discovery is likely hoping that the majority of those subscribers will switch to the new service.
Subscribers who already had HBO Max should see their app automatically update to Max, but if not, you’ll need to download the new app separately (which happened to me). Discovery+ subscribers can choose to stay on the old platform or migrate to it.
What will happen to the HBO brand?
For decades, HBO has been a media platform at the forefront of the industry’s best TV programming, from The Larry Sanders Show, Soprano another the wire, To Legacy, Game of Thrones another Barry. When Max debuts, HBO will remain a cable channel series and platform within a larger online service, but its brand will no longer be at the forefront of the company’s largest streaming platform.
Over time, this can lead to fundamental changes in the television business. Warner Bros. Discovery appears to be positioning Max as a broader and more family-friendly platform than HBO, announcing new shows including the first-ever Harry Potter series and a version Peter and the wolf from U2 frontman Bono.
But won’t this shift in HBO’s focus make it harder to take the creative risks that are key to its brand? Can he continue to produce the kind of TV shows that win Emmys and set industry standards? Or will we see a service limited to trying to appeal to some imaginary version of middle America?
Do consumers want the cable bundle to be recreated in the streaming world?
One of the original streaming promises was that subscribers could be free of the old cable TV system when you pay one fee for a bunch of platforms, many of which you don’t need or need. But as Wall Street investors began demanding more profits—or any profits—from streaming services, strategies have shifted, bringing us all back to the future. Thus, Max will bring together a number of different platforms, including HBO, Cartoon Network, the DC Universe, HGTV, Food Network and others, as a cable system.
As reliable as Max’s offerings are, it’s hard to imagine fans succession or Harley Quinn also wants to spend hours with Ghost Adventures or Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Will some consumers decide that the slow rise in prices for such services is not worth joining a mega-bundle of platforms like cable?
Can the new Max maintain or improve HBO’s erratic record for diversity?
One question for programmers looking to reach a wider subscriber base is always who is in the new target audience. While we have a list of shows that have marked major turning points for women and people of color – The Wire, Los Espookys, Insecure, A Black Lady Sketch Show, Watchmen, Sex and the City another Lovecraft Country among them are HBO and HBO Max. historically fought show shows created or organized by people from marginalized groups.
Let’s hope that as the new Max moves forward, it will continue to run shows that feature characters and stories from an ever wider range of people. Because the last thing the shrinking streaming industry needs to do is step back from its already limited progress in introducing projects, artists and creators that are not white and male.
