It looked like HBO Max was the future of streaming, but it all fell apart, didn’t it?

The streaming market is growing exponentially and given the constant production of content that “satisfies” the tastes of the public, HBO Max seemed to be the big bet for streaming: The quality of his productions and the franchise behind it seemed to position him as one of the best in the business … but now the landscape looks different.

A decade ago, audiences pointed to Netflix as the best in streaming. Now, it’s HBO Max who tames said place: the streaming platform created by Warner Bros.. It has managed to be considered one of the most recognized in the industry in just two years since its launch in 2020, for having bet on the quality of its products and also having some studio classics.

Two years after the launch of HBO Max as a WanterMedia content distribution platform, HBO, Warner Bros, DC Comics, Cartoon Network and many other productions from WB affiliates; the service is considered by the public to be an indispensable catalog: there are those who point out that its offer really tries to continue with the legacy of the “home theater” and not just of a machine for consumable content.

Unfortunately, no matter how well HBO Max gets along with audiences and critics; the platform is about to disappear. Within a year (or so), this digital service will have disappeared to make way for a new streaming catalog that will be the result of the company’s new restructuring after David Zaslav bought Warner Bros.

Now, WB has merged with Discovery, David Zaslav’s company and became Discovery of Warner Bros. This merger of companies ends up being a significant episode not only in them but in all the subsidiaries of the former, as the structure of each of them will be changed.

This includes HBO Max: the streaming platform will merge with Discovery + to create a new digital service that will debut in 2023. By then, the catalog of “quality” that was known until now will cease to exist … a bet that is not. convinced everyone and more than anything else the public, who regrets the decision because they really believed that this was the great bet of the market.

Despite the HBO Max – Discovery + merger, there is still hope

David Zaslav’s decision of combine HBO Max and Discovery to create a new streaming platform did not convince the public and ended up giving a fatalistic view of what could await the industry … but, even so, with all the rubble looming from these companies, there is hope in the new digital service that is expected. .

David Zalav revealed that one of his priorities at Warner Bros Discovery will be to continue betting on original content from HBO, the company behind “Game of Thrones”, “Euphoria”, “Sucession” and many more. In other words, practically all the content currently available to HBO Max, which would mean that the new streaming platform could maintain this “quality” of productions that had distinguished this service from the rest of the market.

It is still too early to sing victory or to become a sea of ​​tears and lamentations; Throughout the remainder of 2022 and what’s to come in 2023, Warner Bros Discovery will have to work hard to create a new platform that keeps HBO Max viewers and doesn’t drive them away with the Discovery + merger, managing to maintain the differences it had with others. style platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. The challenge will not be easy.