Why HBO's Next Move Is Critical
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- čas přidán 27. 06. 2024
- More than 50 years ago, HBO revolutionized television when it began to offer uncut movies, live boxing matches, concerts and comedy specials when you couldn’t watch those things anywhere but at a movie theater or in person. And slowly but surely, as video rental companies like Blockbuster began to compete with the network’s value proposition in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the company pivoted to investing in some of the most beloved original content of our time such as “The Sopranos” and “Sex and the City.” But it didn’t end there, the company has continued to produce award-winning content such a “Game of Thrones,” “Veep,” “The Last Of Us” and “Succession.” Despite establishing itself as the gold standard of storytelling, HBO has never operated as a stand-alone business, and has instead experienced numerous mergers and acquisitions, including the ill-fated AOL-Time Warner deal, known as one of the worst in American corporate history. Today, the company is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery but experts are predicting yet another transition is on the horizon.
Chapters
00:00 - 02:00 Intro
02:01 - 06:13 The rise of HBO
6:14 - 13:40 Original programming
13:41 - 18:20 HBO Max
18:21 - 22:18 Warner Bros. Discovery
Credits
Produced, Shot and Edited by: Darren Geeter
Animation: Jason Reginato
Senior Managing Producer: Tala Hadavi
Additional Reporting: Alexander Sherman
Additional Camera: Shawn Baldwin, Emily Lorsch, Jade Tungal
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Why HBO's Next Move is Critical
Clearly HBO's not the problem, it's all the corporate stunts at parent company level that keeps getting in the way.
HBO is consistently delivering top-notch tv shows, shout out to their production.
HBO was continually trying to provide it's customers quality, entertaining shows and was changing as times changed to meet their customers interests.
just gotta forget the GOT ending.
Unlike Netflix
@@subhpatel2137 they are wiping their mistake with the new GOT show
But hate the ridiculous region blocking
Changing HBOMax to Max was definitely a step back
Max (formerly HBO Max) isn’t owned by HBO is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery because when HBO owned it, they were losing $6 billion a year. That is absolutely absurd. Warner Bros is attempting to SAVE HBO because they are actively gushing money. The new Harry Potter show is owned by Warner Bros and will only be on MAX, They just purchased the rights to LOTR so they will all be on MAX, all Warner Bros/Universal/Illumination films will be on MAX. They also are providing TV content from the channels that THEY own like Discovery, TLC, Food Network, Animal Planet, HGTV, and The History Channel. So no a name change to MAX is not a step back, a step back is paying an absurd amount like $425 million for a TV show (Friends) and then not being able to use it. HBO may be good at making their own shows, and i give credit where credit is due. However when it comes to managing a network or a streaming service they are trash.
IKR. Why drop HBO? HBO Max is good because it have HBO in its name.
@@joshuacoldwater Warner Brothers has had an ownership stake in The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings franchise for a fairly long time. It’s not a new purchase for them.
Right
Im disappointed Cinemax has come down to this from where it once was. Night life wasnt the same.
HBO should be an independent company, with a single streaming platform
agreed, but they don't make enough money to keep up with technological advancements to compete. They need mergers for capital.
dumb af
gonna be too expensive to convince people to buy the subscription.
this video is literally about why they cant do that... it doesn't matter tho, as long as their content can be watched cause they are the best
HBO is becoming these new owners cash cow. Any media magnate would be happy to have them. Very attractive prospect for their budget books yet always ending up in wrong hands..
HBO is just the best. When I see that logo at the beginning of a show, I just know it's going to be something different and good
@@Gittana-ip2ms a good show is annoying to you? lmao go watch marvel disney plus trash
Justice for Oz which really got people talking about HBO as the place to see some crazy tv. That daring show paved the way for HBO's mainstream hits that followed. Max sounds so generic and cheap. HBO is a distinctive, established brand known for delivering high quality, Emmy-winning content created by the best producers, writers, directors, actors, and artisans in the business. The reason HBO has survived multiple mergers and acquisitions is because it is treated as the jewel in the crown and is not to be messed with.
Oz is my fav show so i have massive bias but its always shocked me when people talk about how great hbo are and that they love their tv shows ect and talk about the wire or something for half hour that then 90% they have never watched or heard of OZ.
Your business will make you rich but investment makes and you keep you wealthy, we all deserve to be successful and have financial freedom!
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Assets that can make you rich
Bitcoin
Stocks
Real estate
@@lindapoplin7150 You're right, it's obvious a lot of people remain poor due to ignorance
Starting early is the best way to getting ahead of build wealth, investing remains the priority
Obviously trading in bitcoin is very volatile and risky to trade that's the reason most traders trade with a company
I think it's a mistake to drop HBO from the name, especially considering Max is probably going to make more people think of Cinemax. It's just haphazard rebranding.
Yeah, seriously. Everyone knows HBO. It’s a brand name.
Changing it to “Max” isn’t going to continue brand name notoriety.
People are either going to learn the name, or have to keep searching for “Max” as “HBO”
yes, they will see it when their subscription collapse because people don't know Max and don't want to subscribe to it.
Yeha the people running the co lady now are round and cleary don’t know what they are doing. Accoring to the entertainment trades they took HBO off the name because they they blamed it for low kid/family subscriptions who associate HBO with adult content. Warner Discovery said they want the stem song service to be known as a family friendly/kids content subscription even though all of HBO content will still be on there.
They should've called it "HBO Discovery"
Part of why they renamed it is that they want to put a lot of junk onto it without tainting the HBO brand.
People know who HBO is I don't know why you would drop the name. You automatically associate HBO with higher quality programming.
You associate higher quality with HBO because it has provided higher quality in the past, but when it puts its name on a trashy reality show or a sitcom, that association will eventually be gone and the brand will be diluted.
@@ocuyo6044 In the past ?, WTF with you man... Succession Chernobyl etc etc...
You automatically associate Discovery with obviously fake CGI mermaids and made up sharks that the producers confidently believe will trick their braindead audience.
Faux "News" became more popular AFTER commies like Pucker Carlson said he was part of a propaganda network. Discovery quickly started doing the same thing after they realized their viewers were ALL CONservative zombies
@@luislara9297 Ocuyo probably has issues with all the “woke” themes HBO shows tend to depict like LGBT characters and other liberal lifestyle, ignore him.
I mean they didn't drop the name it's still called HBO 💀
So essentially HBO manages to still be great even with their parent company being historically terrible & confusing. 😂
That's the American economy, for ya.
HBO delivers artisanal content. What sets them apart from the so-called competition is their refusal to underestimate the viewer's intelligence. HBO is not tv; it is its own thing altogether and I would argue that the entertainment industry is (CREATIVELY) all the better for it. Changing the name would not be wise.
"so-called competition" bruh its just a production company, no need to go full english teacher
They are renaming because they want customers to know that they don't just stream HBO but the have DC, Cartoon Network, Looney Tunes etc. Personally they should have gone with WB+.
If Warner Bros Discovery was so concerned about having the HBO name tarnished, they could have just kept HBO Max and Discovery+ as separate services so that The White Lotus and The Last of Us is not mixed in with Discovery’s slop. Good HBO shows have been cancelled because of this merger when they didn’t need to be if the merger didn’t happen.
I disagree. HBO Max als has 'Max' shows, which were not produced by HBO, thus tarnishing the HBO name. Reorganizing their streaming service under the name MAX makes perfect sens. HBO is kept out of the name, and remains as a separate tile within their streaming service, just like MAX shows, DC and the Discovery crap. This way each has their own separate brand and HBO can keep delivering their quality. This puts WBD in a better position to compete with Netflix, which also has every type of thing under one umbrella, their just lacking the quality prestige type shows that HBO has.
Now we see why House of the Dragon season 2 was stopped. HBO cant hide anymore.
Richard Pleper seems like that kind of person you'd be lucky to work with and learn from. Lucky those who were able to be a part of it.
An HBO intro has always been therapy so to speak because, as you heard that intro you would automatically be relaxed and knew you were going to watch something good. Its Not TV, Its Max...hmmm. Nope. Since we are paying, give us the name, HBO.
HBO Max should've maintained it's name for branding.
The hub section was more than enough. You could select HBO Original. DC. Ghibli. Etc. They should've added Discovery as another Hub.
I agree
HBO was the channel I could not watch until I was 13
HBO MAX is by far my favorite streaming platform
in the 70s, before names started using initials, HBO was Home Box Office and was great having movies to watch at any time.
At the end of the day, HBO shouldn't be passed around by buyers, but actually be its own company. Too bad that would actually hurt the shows' budget... It's sad that everything is all about money
Why is OZ constantly overlooked when original programming on HBO is discussed?
Agree.also Six Feet Under.
@@beckigreen yes! This too!
don’t remind me I gotta start the new season of succession immediately. that show is f i r e.
Hurry before someone spoils it. Seriously delete the comment so people can't ruin it for you
If we’re being honest the only thing HBO lacks is probably a giant sci fi show that competes with Star Wars or Star Trek the only thing I can see is if they go all in on the Dune franchise Crazy when you look at their ENTIRE discography there’s no one who comes close to even competing with HBO
so true, their reputation proceeds them
They shouldn't have canceled Westworld & Raised By Wolves
Surprised that Oz wasn't mentioned. The first drama on HBO.
I hope HBO finds a good home, a lot of my best shows are HBO
I was so confused when hbo Max came out cause I had Go and didn’t know wtf was going on
3:26 "Spearheaded" is a term GPT uses, a LOT. I have 95% certainty this is co-written by Ai.
HBO Max was a mistake. WBD has brands (DC, Harry Potter, etc.) they are relying on outside of HBO. Love HBO’s content, but the rollout and naming of HBO Max was confusing.
I hope HBO is not becoming another Netflix, where 90 % is rubbish 😮
For those curious, the Dolan family was responsible for wiring NYC with the earliest cable service. Cablevision had offices here, and as a child of the 80's, my Bronx childhood was enriched by entertainment from HBO.
With that in mind, I just wanted to acknowledge 2 pieces of entertainment that this video essay sadly omitted.
1) Fraggle Rock. During the mid to late 80's, HBO became the first Jim Henson project created exclusively for pay cable TV. This early attempt at broadening original content did pave the way for outlets like HBO Kids and other specific theme channels.
2) Tales From The Crypt. Literally bridging the gap from its halcyon days to award-winning seasons of original programming and special event features, TFTC benefited from having the Time Warner merger bring in funds from WB to produce this love letter to EC Comics. Also having showrunners like Joel Silver, Richard Donner, and Robert Zemeckis meant top tier talent and uncut horror stories could unfold to an increasing national audience.
Funny enough, when TFTC started back in 1989, 1-900 hotlines were utilized to get viewers to participate in contests and encourage word-of-mouth campaigns to draw more viewers and increase subscriptions. By the time the series ended in mid 1996, HBO was drawing in a new generation of viewers with its own website. ❤
Why aren't they mentioning OZ the tv show on HBO which was/is legendary!!? That show helped establish HBO into what it was to become. One of the best tv shows ever made!
I am retired and invested in AT&T because they paid such a high dividend. That's why I wasn't overly concerned by the fall in the stock price. But after AT&T spun off Warner Media, they cut their dividend in half. That's OK, I thought. Hopefully, cutting the dividend will help the stock price recover. But as of this morning, my shares of AT&T are down 27%, while the Warners Brothers Discovery (WBD) shares I received as part of the merger are down 56%. I am nothing if not an investing genius. But since I am at least still getting an AT&T dividend (WBD doesn't pay one at all), I'm holding on to the shares in hopes they recover some of their lost value. As I see it, after scrapping the Batgirl movie I was looking forward to, that's the least WBD can do for me.
wooow your parents must be soo proud
Newcomers might think of HBO for exceptional TV series’. Being a fan of HBO since the 80’s, they were showing, for instance, all of the original Star Wars films.
I canceled when they started making original content like Westworld unavailable. Who was the genius behind that move?
That era of band of brothers 😮. It was worth it just to get that series.
amazing series
I always see HBO as the Apple of entertainment industry. I think HBO is better bought by Apple.
No thanks, Apple will destroy its independent mindset
HBO is now inseparable to WarnerBros, and Apple buying WBD would be like repeating same mistake of AoL and AT&T mergers.
@@abhikoolblue Apple has deeper pockets than both AoL and AT&T. The net worth for AT&T $126.26B while Apple's net worth is $2.6T.
@@abhikoolblue Apple has their own entertainment division and streaming service now, they are already a player in the content market, acquiring WB would be a big boost to them. However the BTS rumors seem to be that Universal is in talks to acquire WB, while Apple is actually considering Disney as a possible choice for acquisition. It would consolidate the market to the Universal-WB streaming service (whatever its called), the Apple-Disney streaming service (whatever its called), Netflix, Amazon Prime video and Paramount+ as the biggest streamers, with Hulu and discovery+ just behind them, and Sony as the only entertainment company without a streaming service, who just licenses content to different services.
@@kevinkessler2024 apple rarely acquires companies. the biggest apple acquisition was Beats which was only THREE billion.
Hello fellow *pirates* giving the middle finger to corporate america
HBOMax is getting better, hopefully they speed things up in adding more movies/shows
That made me think of what Netflix does. What I like about HBO Max is that they choose quality>quantity
How is it getting better? The app on both phone and smart tv is garbage. They have removed a ton of content, canceled movies fully made and the bugs are some of the craziest I have ever seen. If you look at the reviews for the app it’s at 3.1 and has been since it came out. Just found this the other day on my tv and I know they aren’t the only ones but if you go into settings you have to turn off don’t sell my info. They charge you a hefty fee monthly then turn around and make extra money off you as well.
HBO makes some of the best content just ever made in entertainment. But whatever Warner is doing... everything from managing their subsidiaries to DC Comics and just general movie production messes like Matrix 4, the company is absolutely mismanaged.
2020 was a holy year for streaming services
I think they are going the Netflix route. The volume route. Tons of shows and movies all jumbled together. It’s difficult to find a high quality show. We need to go thru a jungle of content from low quality to incredible. Using HBO MAX I can usually take a chance in a show like Barry, the description didn’t appeal to me but it turned out to be amazing. Good luck HBO 😅
I cut the cord in the mid 2000s. It took most of the c-suite tie-wearing-chuckleheads another decade to loosen their ties, get some oxygen to their brains, and finally offer streaming directly. The present situation seems to be directed by equally clueless lack of vision.
We need HBO by itself. This merger will not stand time. I can't believe they will put all the trash from Discovery on the same platform. Now I understand why HBO wanted to save its name by renaming this new platform MAX.
No. They cannot. Where do you think HBO contents come from? It's mostly from WB.
HBO is bullet proof. i need Dune 2 asap. HBO should not be dropped from the name. that’s simply idiotic. Apple needs to write the check for HBO. perfect fit
Highkey would be perfect.
I’d take HBO over any other streaming service 📺
I’m fine with hbo. Discovery isn’t impressive
They even removing there own shows they made for tax write off .
Just when pandemic ended and HBO Max had ton of content I was recommending it to everyone I know. The content was much quality than Netflix and cant even compare the other services. Now with Zaslav taking over it feels like Max has been gutted. I understand the name switch but imo they should have kept the services separate.
I remember back in the early 80s before Blockbuster stole its thunder the whole family used to gather around the tv to watch great movies. I remember watching Star Wars and The Road Warrior on HBO. Also the intro music score was a treat. Timeless.
I'm still stunned they drop one of the most known brand names in American media. HBO means premium cable tv and to lose that makes no sense. And to keep Max which is short for Skinomax is even more bizarre.
The question is: How long would HBO keep meaning that once all this other content were mixed with it? I still think they could have done better than MAX, but it makes sense to protect the name HBO.
They didn't drop the HBO name it's still called HBO they just changed their streaming service name
@@tymac9127 That's what I meant. i think the HBO name carries huge weight in TV and** streaming. HBO isn't new to streaming... just wider expanded streaming service they currently have and to not use the HBO name is a weird misstep.
@@luisguilhermeoliveira5794 Than leave HBO GO and create TW streaming service. One for HBO subscribers and the other for streamers. Continuing to constantly change it looks as if HBO the network is on shaky ground when its doing quite well. Its the Time Warner streaming service that is constantly struggling.
The thing about premium is the audience for premium content is too small for a service to be competitive against Netflix, Disney+ and Prime.
Well rebooting Harry Potter for tv wasn't a great move and hiring Nepo Gunn for DC CEO was the worst
Wow. To find out that I was there IN THE BEGINNING...Loved Dream On!♥
HBO should have stuck with original content and movies!
HBO has remain top tier streaming service with its content and how they keep updating their content, and the quality of their content is also great. They have great selection of movies and tv shows on their service. By far making Netflix look like dog sh*t with their price jump and removal of account sharing, and no wonder why they plummet down to hell.
*remained a *plummeted
@@January. hbo piff
@@mkhanman12345 輪羅野菜間話藁輪
GREAT VIDEO
whatever mergers, buys, sells, mistakes, hiccups, have happened, HBO has and IS STILL making the best🐲❤️, it's the top of the top!
Anybody old enough to remember the old brown HBO cable box? Press both channels 28 & 31, tuning wheel all they way up - PRESTO - Playboy Channel, albeit slightly scrambled. 😀
Man we’re old
13:22 - I was working at AT&T when this was happening. The pushback with this was a worry that every entertainment entity would want streaming services of their own (sounds familiar?). This would make consumers pay in the long run being the belief.
HBO needs a sugar daddy to keep delivering the great content.
5:06 Y2K stylin'! Way to go mom, rock that neon!
Mark my words, THE MOUSE will be buying WB within a decade or less. The Discover CEO has no clue what to do with WB, the greatest analogy I heard was that is with a guy driving an automatic BMW, and suddenly you are giving a MANUAL SHIFT muscle car.
Won't happen after they've already bought 20th Century. Even if they tried regulators won't allow it. And the said thing is they considered it before buying Fox, but Warner was already in exclusive negotiations with AT&T. Disney+ combined with HBO and WB would have been amazing.
Well they weren't respectful according to Dave Chappelle
It all started with The Hitchhiker.
I dare you to do a similar documentary on Touhou Project and Bilibili, would love to watch that.
I never liked the brand name; however, calling it Max over HBO MAX because the Discovery Channel content doesn’t have the same QC as all the HBO shows then you’ll most likely become an issue down the uphill road. In addition, HBO is known for more adult edgy content & calling it a more simple name to differentiate by basic association that family members don’t have to worry if they stumble & watch Euphoria or something like that. It’s a smart move & the rumor was true all those years ago.
Who works on the audio for your videos? The volume is overall too low and varies in volume.
Some really bad decisions have been made in the past with regard to HBO. It will be interesting to see what the next merger has in store for the premium provider.
WB disaster decisions like shelving Batgirl & releasing Flash
Or replacing Depp
*** signs they're not listening to the fans
Raised by wolves was done an injustice
You should do a documentary on showtime and starz/encore.
They really dropped the ball on the streaming name. Keep changing
right
Absolutely loved house of the dragon
The new Warner discovery merger does not bode well for HBO
After watching this video I am not sure for which streaming service I need to subscribe to watch HBO's content if I don't have cable.
Why do all of HBO's CEOs look like they have at least a few #MeToo allegations against them?
Interesting piece on hbo but the narration was way too fast and felt mechanical and was hard to follow!
Kept waiting to hear if HBO Max has any relation to the old CineMax (Warner Bros.Discovery)...if not then this name confusion was also not mentioned.
Evs in the military is a very good idea if they pair it with small nuclear power . The navy uses nuclear power safely
Interesting how many people today don't know it stands for "Home Box Office."
Damn that pepper dude is RED...
Still don't like them calling it straight Max, maybe HBO world or just Warner because Max is reminds us of Cinemax a sister network of HBO. A lot of bad decisions during the pandemic that lead a bunch of billion dollar companies to fold and sell off.
watched all of this happen in my lifetime. from my friend having HBO ny blurry antenna in 80s to Max steaming
If only HBO had not passed on the Walking Dead, and allowed it to be what it could have been on cable.
The end caught me by surprise. They’re already talking about selling off HBO?
Easy solution for writers - have less writers in the market. If people want to get paid at network rates back before streaming, then it will mean less shows are made overall.. the pie only gets so much bigger, but if there's more mouths to feed then the slice gets smaller.
They skipped over post season 8 subscription cancelation lol.
En Mexico por allá de 1995, se llamaba HBO OLE
Remove one of the most iconic brand name, sounds like a good idea!😂🤦🏾♂️ it’s like corporate executives are beyond dumb!
The fact that they are rebranding to "Max" and dropping the HBO title is unbeleivably stupid and I'm sure the marketing team is in shambles over this. HBO has a reputation at this point for excellence and quality storytelling, the name is associated with so many classics like the Sopranos. When i think "Max" I think "Office Max" lmaooo "Cinemax" what are they thinking????
Ironically this could be episode of Succession
Dropping the HBO name is an actual hate crime to the people who love it. HBO name is recognized with greatness for decades. What idiot CEO / Executives made that decision imagine Call of Duty or. Grand Theft Auto Changing their customer brand name. SMH mindblown 🤯🤯🤯
There's way too many streaming services at this point. The license wars is killing the bottom line of consumers. Idc what catalog you have, im not paying for peacock bruh
How do I invest in HBO when it's not public?! They're the best ever
$WBD was never 38 dollars a share, at end of dec 2022 it was nine bucks
Can you talk about ARM Limited
The Leftovers is the best thing HBO has done in the last 10 years!
Succession *
@@diegoosorio8421 stopped after S1 🤷♂️
I’m still upset about raised by wolves 😭
Thats the key the creative people.
If my stocks dont reflect it then this is melodramatic
Why isn’t HBO available in the UK?
Getting out of the money furnace that streaming has become is genius. She weapons don't use them.