Streaming service HBOMax is now officially simply known as Max. And a competing service didn't miss the opportunity to make a joke about it -- at its own expense.
"I know you’re all very disappointed," streaming service Peacock tweeted Tuesday, "But I will *not* be dropping the first half of my name any time soon."
Peacock left it up to its 265,000+ Twitter followers to infer the intended and off-color meaning of its gag.
"[I] mean we are all peas in a pod here," the service added in a subsequent tweet.
HBOMax rebranded itself as Max in the wake of parent company WarnerMedia's merger with Discovery last year. Max now features content from both HBOMax and Discovery+. The combined services reportedly have nearly 100 million subscribers. In addition to Discovery's offerings, Max also draws from properties owned by Warner Bros., Adult Swim, Cartoon Network among others.
While the rebranding has kicked off in the U.S., the transition in other regions across the globe will continue throughout 2023 and into next year.
What Happened to HBOMax
The merger resulted in HBOMax removing content as a cost-cutting measure. HBOMax unexpectedly canceled anticipated original films like Batgirl and Scoob! Holiday Haunt. The service also subsequently removed existing content from its library. Talk show The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo and animated space opera Final Space were among the unannounced casualties. HBOMax also removed nearly 200 Sesame Street episodes. Other upcoming films were transitioned into theatrical releases.
The rebranding comes almost exactly three years after HBOMax first launched as a streaming service. Its debut came early in the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The service later became an outlet for planned theatrical releases cancelled or postponed due to pandemic-induced lockdown measures. High profile films like Wonder Woman 1984, Godzilla vs. Kong and Dune premiered on HBOMax. Many releases were either in addition to or in lieu of theatrical releases.
The rebranded Max briefly went down after its launch.
Current Max offerings include the post-apocalyptic The Last of Us starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon and the reimagined Perry Mason starring Matthew Rhys.
NBCUniversal also launched its competing Peacock streaming service in 2020, weeks after that of HBOMax. Peacock's content is primarily drawn from NBCUniversal's library. Other programming includes sci-fi series The Ark, Rian Johnson's mystery series Poker Face and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air remake Bel-Air.
Source: Twitter