Sure it is. SciFi is a genre description that literally describes the content on the network. Max, in the context of streaming services, is a fanciful term. Assuming it's not in prior use by someone else somewhere, I don't see why they would have any problems protecting their mark in the context of streaming services. They're not going to be able to stop someone else from calling their restaurant Burgers to the Max, but I'm not sure why they would care.
What momentum are they losing? This is what I don't get about this argument. That the service is changing from HBOMax to Max is blindingly obvious to those who already subscribe. They're not going to get lost in the transition except to the extent they have difficulties with new apps - but that would be an issue regardless of whether they kept the name HBOMax for the new combined service or not. Are they going to lose new subscribers who can't figure out that when they search for the HBOMax app and the results tell them that HBOMax is now Max, that means that the service has changed names? Are they going to lose people who would be happy to spend $x/month to watch House of the Dragon on HBOMax, but won't pay the same amount to watch House of the Dragon on Max?Rumpy wrote: ↑Thu May 25, 2023 12:18 amSure, maybe in 3-5 years, if they don't change it again before then, which has been the trendy thing to do as of late. But time is money. What they've had with the HBO branding is momentum that was carried with the recognition it had.ImLawBoy wrote: ↑Wed May 24, 2023 10:47 pm
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Give it some time. What did Hulu mean? What did Verizon mean? Man, did we make fun of Verizon when they trotted out that name! [edit]I thought of another one! Accenture was raked over the coals when they came up with that name in the aftermath of Arthur Anderson's collapse![/edit] Max is already starting out in a better place than either of those with the shift from HBOMax to Max, and the clever visual of keeping the stylized HBO O visual in the new logo as the center of the "a" further reinforces it.
This isn't being done in a vacuum. They're not secretly changing the name HBOMax to Max. They're advertising it heavily. Their cable networks are pounding that you can watch the content on Max.
Once again, what's going to spell success or failure for Warner/Discovery is most likely to come down to whether people are willing to pay for their content, not whether they call the service HBOMax or Max.