By Gavin Boyle
With Max and Paramount+ With Showtime rebranding back to their original platform names, Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery revealed that streamers don’t have everything figured out when it comes to branding.
“The powerful growth we have seen in our global streaming service is built around the quality of our programming,” said Warner Bros. Discovery President and CEO David Zaslav when announcing the shift back to the HBO Max name. “Today, we are bringing back HBO, the brand that represents the highest quality in media, to further accelerate the growth in the years ahead.”
“With the course we are on and strong momentum we are enjoying, we believe HBO Max far better represents our current consumer proposition,” added Casey Bloys, the Chairman and CEO of HBO and Max content. “And it clearly states our implicit promise to deliver content that is recognized as unique and, to steal a line we always say at HBO, worth paying for.”
Paramount shared a similar sentiment with its name change, as it drops the Showtime aspect of its title, instead calling itself Paramount+ Premium for those paying for the extra shows and movies that come from the Showtime brand.
“Since we recently introduced a sampling of Showtime programming to the Essential plan, the Premium plan name reflects the broad and diverse offerings across both plan tiers,” Paramount explained. “Showtime programming remains an important part of Paramount+, and is still prominently represented on the service!”
Related: Paramount+ Drops Showtime From Its Title. What Does That Mean For You?
While what these companies say is true, one cannot help but feel that these rebrands acknowledge mistakes more than anything else as they revert back to names their platforms previously held. This is especially true for Warner Bros. Discovery as the HBO name holds significant weight in the entertainment industry.
Furthermore, the clear misstep from both of these companies further cements that even if they are big players in the streaming industry, they are not on the cutting edge of innovation like some of their competitors. Netflix, for example, has set the tone for streaming in recent years, opting to focus on password-crackdowns and ad-supported streaming tiers, which its competitors have only implemented after seeing its success.
“I’m conscious of not over-selling [the password crackdown] because you see Netflix’s success. But Netflix was in market for 17 years. That means that people are sharing passwords for 17 years,” JB Perrett, head of global streaming and games at Warner Bros. Discovery, said in March 2024, highlighting how his company’s strategy was directly influenced by Netflix.
While these companies are at the head of the entertainment industry, they are not immune from making mistakes, whether it be in their marketing or the content they choose to produce. Consumers know best, and the best way for them to change companies’ policies is by supporting the content they desire and avoiding everything else.
Read Next: Bob Iger Admits Disney Stumbled in Recent Years: ‘Lost Some Focus’
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