I sit in max branding meetings quite a bit lately 
It wonât be rebranding. The CMO is 100% behind the max brand.
WB is but one of 8 franchise brands that fuel max with content.
The WB brand along with the HBO brand were rejected at the time the max branding was selected
D+ lost about $500m this year.
Losses are slowing.
Iâm not sure if max is profitable or not. But WBD is saddled with debt.
Fair enough but it sucks and is routinely mocked in the industry. Just like Star which will be wound down eventually, itâs just a word, hard to get a brand out of that.
Itâs not the best
But nor is Prime really.
Disney is 100 years old.
Brand is not built through name
Brand is built through product and expectation.
With paramount content and and content it would be #2 behind Netflix.
A combined ParaWBD would be pretty powerful owning NFL rights, Tom cruise movies. Harry Potter. DC Movies. HBO. A combined CBS news / cnn. Not to mention some massive IPs worth billions
CBS shows account for about 40% of the viewing on Para+
Putting it all on max would mean finally someone could challenge Netflix
Peacock is about to become a pimple on the moon in size comparison
In the Australian market I think Max would just seem like itâs copying Stan, as just a personâs name. I think itâd be hard to establish a lot of mindshare using a brand that feels so similar to another one in the market, though I suppose it doesnât stop all the various âplusâ services.
These mega mergers havenât been going too great so far - they all seem like the typical silicon valley model of burn through a shittonne of capital to get market share and then shrug when you wonder why you arenât making any money at the end of it.
Merging to try and get bigger and bigger content pies, but simply unable to make the economics work at the kind of subscription prices people are willing to pay, while in a mountain of debt from acquiring all that content in the first place.
I donât think so. Most people would associate Max more with being short for Maximum than a copycat male name.
Isnât Stan supposed to a portmanteau word, originally from Stalker Fan? Although the word has evolved to mean âfans who are highly engaged and supportiveâ.
I wrote you but you still ainât callinâ
I left my cell, my pager, and my home phone at the bottom
Doesnt help that Disney has put out some turgid shit for several years now - their performance is heavily driven by it being basically the only place to access their catalogue(s) of content.
They could start by letting The Simpsons die a peaceful death
I know you probably hear this every day, but Iâm your biggest fan
Itâs exclusive to Foxtel platforms currently
It was an example. Being exclusive on one platform would earn more for them.
If Foxtel loose the Max content I could see Max doing okay but somehow I think the desperation of foxtel to remain relevant would sink this .
Tbh the best they could probably do is maybe some deal where they hold some kind of hbo rights but exclusive and new content I doubt they will be getting that after this happens.
The deal will have ripple effects on the Australian TV industry. 10 will have access to local production and HBO content on Max
Looks like theyâve assigned the role to the wrong sub company, reading the ad itâs clearly for 10 in Sydney.
Interesting error, had me thinking they may look to have an Australian correspondent but no point if they can just utilise company resources.
