So long, HBO name: WBD goes for 'Max' power in merged streaming service
Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) has unveiled its combination of HBO Max and Discovery+ -- and it's a new, bigger streaming service simply named "Max."
"Max offers consumers something truly distinct and appealing," WBD CEO David Zaslav said in an event unveiling the offering. "Max is the one to watch. It's the one to watch because it's the place every member of the household can go to see exactly what they want at any given time."
The service finally merges the two major streaming platforms from WBD's predecessor companies, and it will follow in the footsteps of successful efforts at rivals like Disney+, by categorizing content under individual brand "tiles" -- such as for Warner Bros., HBO, Discovery and DC Comics.
Max will make its debut May 23, streaming chief JB Perrette said.
"Now our streaming service may have a new name but HBO has not and is not changing course at all," said HBO chief Casey Bloys. "Whether it be drama, comedy, documentaries or late night and specials, the programming teams are led by creative executives that I've had the honor of working with for going on 20 years." 
Nothing's changing at HBO the pay TV service, but executives had previously raised concerns that the HBO Max name was diluting HBO's brand power by equating everything on the expanded streaming product with the longtime prestige brand -- a problem only set to get worse when adding in the sea of unscripted content popular on Discovery+.
Meanwhile, even when HBO Max was created, not every executive was on board with leaving HBO in the name -- but AT&T chief John Stankey had reportedly liked HBO Max. (That factor also led to naming confusion in HBO's early streaming-service days: See Where could HBO Now go? (And where does it leave HBO Go now?))
The price isn't changing from the related tiers (with or without ads, for $9.99 or $16 per month respectively) at HBO Max, though WBD is adding a new top tier at $19.99/month, featuring up to 4K resolution, Dolby Atmos sound, and more concurrent streams and downloads.
Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) has been wrestling as part of an increasingly competitive space for major-media streaming services, though it tended to hold its cards on numbers (with tens of millions "eligible" to sign up for HBO Max either directly or through wholesale) -- against rivals like Netflix (NFLX) and Disney (DIS) and their 200M-plus subs, as well as Paramount+ (PARA) (PARAA), Peacock (CMCSA), Amazon Prime Video (AMZN) and Apple TV+ (AAPL), not to mention Lions Gate (LGF.A) (LGF.B).
Updated: Digging into particulars, Perrette said the new service had four key goals: Increase engagement; enhance retention; strengthen performance; and optimize monetization. He said the company was learning from the different ways people discovered content on HBO Max and Discovery+.
Meanwhile, as many expected, Discovery+ will officially be left alone. The subscribers to that service have been profitable for Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) and "we don't want to leave any profitable subscribers behind," Perrette said.
Updated: Bloys confirmed a return to the Wizarding World: "Over the course of the next decade -- David wanted me to make sure you heard me say next decade, 10 years -- we'll once again enter the wondrous world of Harry Potter as a multi-season, live actual series for the first time." A new cast will portray the characters from the seven-novel series.
"We're a content company," Zaslav said in wrapping up. "This is who we are. This is what we do. We tell stories. You saw some of it today. But there's a lot of companies that are in a lot of businesses; this is the only business that we're in. We're going to drive free cash flow and we're going to invest in great stories."
With the event wrapping after a little over an hour, WBD stock (WBD) was among the decliners in Communication Services stocks, down 2.8% a little after 2 p.m.