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Max is taking 4K away from its legacy ad-free subscribers

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Re: Max is taking 4K away from its legacy ad-free subscribers

#31

Post by dragonwriter »

cameldrv wrote: post #11
sarchertech wrote: post #3

I cannot for the life of me understand the rebrand. This has got to be some idiot exec who just wanted to put their stamp on things. One of those decisions that isn’t for the benefit of customers or shareholders—just the exec.

I think that the point of the rebrand was to eliminate the expectation that HBO shows would be available on HBO Max. For example, Westworld is no longer available on Max.

I think that’s the rationalization, but the point of the rebrand is David Zaslav pissing on things to mark his territory.

Re: Max is taking 4K away from its legacy ad-free subscribers

#32

Post by networkchad »

1letterunixname wrote: post #12
sarchertech wrote: post #3

I cannot for the life of me understand the rebrand. This has got to be some idiot exec who just wanted to put their stamp on things. One of those decisions that isn’t for the benefit of customers or shareholders—just the exec.

Mergers allow concentration of power while antitrust regulators are nowhere to be found. Blithe unconcern about enshitification of goods and services but for more money equals higher profits. Consumers are dumb and will keep giving us more money whenever we ask for any excuse. is the mantra.

[flagged]

Re: Max is taking 4K away from its legacy ad-free subscribers

#33

Post by spondylosaurus »

BlackjackCF wrote: post #28
spondylosaurus wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For HBO/Max's foot-shooting specifically, David Zaslav is why. https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-communications/can-...

Imagine being the person who took a rock solid brand like HBO and flushed it down the toilet…

There was another really good New Yorker piece recently about Howard Schultz (the Starbucks CEO responsible for elevating the company into the juggernaut chain it is today) and his insistence on rolling out these Oleato drinks that are literally just coffee with olive oil drizzled in.

Granted, I don't think Oleato is enough to kill Starbucks, but my takeaway of the whole thing was that sometimes these C-suite guys end up in positions where everyone around them is too afraid to say "what the fuck are you doing."

Re: Max is taking 4K away from its legacy ad-free subscribers

#34

Post by dragonwriter »

Kerbonut wrote: post #2

Who is Max? I really hate what HBO did here. I was very much liking the HBO Max era, and very much unimpressed with all of what’s happening now.

> I really hate what HBO did here.

“HBO”, inasmuch as that names something that can be said to act or be acted on, was more the recipient than the active party. Its what the acquiring corporate parent did to HBO.

Re: Max is taking 4K away from its legacy ad-free subscribers

#35

Post by cpuguy83 »

bqmjjx0kac wrote: post #22
bigstrat2003 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The rebranding of HBO Max to "Max" might be one of the stupidest rebrandings I've ever seen. And that's saying a lot, because I've never seen a good one to begin with. I can't fathom what led to that decision. They had a service which people liked, and was named after a channel which was synonymous with "quality TV". So they decided to throw that away, in favor of the most generic name to grace the world (until Elon…

Also, they chose to inconvenience the entire user base by forcing them to download another app and sign in over there.

And somehow it wasn't just a rebranded version of the same app. It was like a beta version of a brand new codebase.

Re: Max is taking 4K away from its legacy ad-free subscribers

#36

Post by Finnucane »

Heh, my wife and I were just talking about cancelling due to not using it enough to be worth paying for. Netflix too. Don't really care about 4K as such, as we don't have a 4K tv. But still, basically raising the price to get the same service is a dick move.

Re: Max is taking 4K away from its legacy ad-free subscribers

#38

Post by matheusmoreira »

mathieuh wrote: post #9

Baffles me why all these streaming companies are shooting themselves in the foot. For about 18 months there was a golden age where it was easier to pay for things than to pirate. Now we’re in a situation where it’s even /harder/ than it’s ever been. People will pay for media if it’s easy and a good experience. The barrier to piracy is non-existent these days and you actually get a far better experience.

These copyright owners always defeat themselves. Netflix used to have a rich selection of content. Now every single studio has its own shitty streaming service instead. You subscribe to one of these things and you find they have like 5 films you like. You watch one of these things and you find they compressed the "high definition" stream so much it has artifacts in 90% black frames.

Meanwhile "pirates" have everything humanity ever created in Blu-Ray quality all in one place and thoroughly catalogued. Makes me feel like a sucker.

Re: Max is taking 4K away from its legacy ad-free subscribers

#39

Post by [deleted] »

IggleSniggle wrote: post #16
1letterunixname wrote: post #4

"Legacy" marketing wank. I signed up last year. They want 33% more ($150 -> $200) for absolute no value at all. A greedy profit-price spiral cash-grab is what it is. Canceling the day before the renewal and back to torrents I guess. https://auth.max.com/cancel-subscription

I haven't done it in over a decade. Is the bay still the way it's mostly done by casuals?

[deleted]

Re: Max is taking 4K away from its legacy ad-free subscribers

#40

Post by deckar01 »

My AT&T internet package still “Includes Max” with no monetary value assigned to the “ad-free monthly” subscription, but new service with the same speed (without Max) is $5 cheaper monthly. Max’s subscription settings defer to AT&T, which doesn’t offer a choice. None of the internet packages include Max anymore. I suspect I will have the opportunity to stop subsidizing their reality TV outlet soon.
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