HBO Max, the newest major streaming service offering premium content and fan-favorite shows and movies, launched late last month, becoming the third active HBO app people are using to watch content. Trying to figure out the difference between HBO Go and HBO Now was difficult enough before Max entered the fray.
To try and keep things a bit more streamlined, WarnerMedia is reportedly rebranding its HBO apps, according to Variety – but a tweet explaining the move left many people on social media scratching their heads.
Just in: After some significant brand confusion around HBO Max and all the other HBO apps, WarnerMedia is officially "sunsetting" HBO Go and will rebrand HBO Now as, simply, HBO.
— Natalie Jarvey (@natjarv) June 12, 2020
If you have no idea what any of this means, you aren’t alone!
It's really simple, folks:
HBO Go –> HBO Max
HBO Now –> HBO
HBO –> HBO Go
HBO Max –> wait hold on let me start over https://t.co/qyPjsQsDXc— Alex Zalben (@azalben) June 12, 2020
Wait i think I figured this out
HBO is still HBO, so that’s good
HBO Now and HBO Go will merge/die and become the official HBO app
HBO Max is a different, more expensive app that also has all of HBO’s stuff, too, but um, yeah
And HBO Quibi probably isn’t happening
Got it https://t.co/sLlJvTwyD1
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) June 12, 2020
easy to sort out:
– Premium cable channel HBO is still called HBO?
– Cable-linked streaming HBO GO is being “sunsetted” (??)
– Independent streaming HBO NOW merged with other Time Warner brands and became HBO MAX (I think????)
– but also HBO NOW is now… HBO?? Ok I tried my best https://t.co/5USIdaPp2V— aLec robBins (@alecrobbins) June 12, 2020
Let’s try and figure this out. First, a look back at what these apps were before the changes:
HBO Go was an app used by people who had a cable subscription to HBO, which allowed them to access HBO content in web browsers and on smart devices.
HBO Now was an app that offered a subscription to HBO for people who did not have or want a cable subscription. For cord-cutters, this was the go-to.
HBO Max is a new, premium subscription service that combines HBO content with other, non-HBO produced content. It’s basically the HBO version of Netflix.
So what is changing?
HBO Go is disappearing. Most people who have cable subscriptions to HBO will be able to access HBO Max through their cable provider.
HBO Now is turning into a new app that will simply be called HBO.
So, in the future, if you just want HBO content, you’ll use the HBO app. If you want HBO content plus all the extra stuff (like “Friends”), you’ll need an HBO Max subscription.
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