Why WBD is bringing back HBO Max — and what it means for ad buyers focused on quality

Max is coming home — to HBO Max.

At its 2025 upfront presentation, Warner Bros. Discovery announced that it’s bringing back the HBO Max name, two years after dropping the iconic brand in favor of the more generic “Max.”

The move underscores WBD’s renewed focus on the power of premium storytelling — a hallmark of HBO’s legacy. Ryan Gould, WBD’s president of U.S. ad sales, go to market, characterized the moment as a chance for the entertainment giant to collectively rethink, reimagine and reinvent the TV and streaming industry.

Shauna Spenley, WBD’s global chief marketing officer, likened today’s streaming landscape to fast fashion — oversaturated, disposable and overwhelming. She said the buzziest, best shows must fight in a crowded field to rise to the top.

“People are saying I’d rather have one great sweater than five that don’t work,” Spenley said. “The desire for cheap, long-form episodic volume has waned. When we think about our competitive advantage, it’s the same one that we’ve had with HBO for the last 50 years.”

Shows like The White Lotus, The Pitt and House of the Dragon anchor that premium message. For advertisers, the return to the HBO Max name may be a signal: WBD is highlighting a pivot back to quality — and making it easier to access.

Gould and Bobby Voltaggio, WBD’s president of U.S. Ad Sales, Platform Monetization unveiled two new products for advertisers that will launch later this year — Demo Direct and NEO.

NEO is slated to be an ad platform that gives buyers direct access to all of WBD’s premium inventory, with no middlemen and no hidden fees, according to Voltaggio. Advertisers will get real-time transparency into where their ads are running and how they’re performing — plus tools to control budgets, pacing and results, according to Voltaggio.

“Premium means transparency,” Gould said.

Demo Direct, meanwhile, is positioned to enable advertisers to make unified buys across all of WBD’s linear networks.

To help explain the tools, Conan O’Brien took to the stage to poke fun at ad tech jargon while highlighting NEO’s simplicity and interoperability. He was one of many celebrities featured at the event, alongside John Cena and the stars of The White Lotus, who opened the show in character — Michelle Monaghan, Carrie Coon and Leslie Bibb.

Rebranding HBO’s legacy

The name change drew gasps and laughs from the crowd at Madison Square Garden, illustrated by a parody of the infamous Spider-Man meme on-screen.

WBD’s streaming business has made major gains in the past two years, swinging to a $339 million profit in its latest earnings call.

HBO Max added 22 million subscribers in the last year, with the ad-supported tier doubling in size. Half of all new subscribers are choosing the ad-tier, and the platform is on track to reach more than 150 million global subscribers by the end of 2026.

CNN returns to streaming

Another major announcement came from the Chairman and CEO of CNN Mark Thompson who broke news: CNN is relaunching an all-access streaming service.

Subscribers will get both CNN’s full linear programming and on-demand streaming content. This comes just over three years after the short-lived CNN+ was shut down. There were no details about pricing for the subscription or the name of the new service.

WBD leans into live

Arguably the biggest theme of this upfronts season is live sports, and WBD made sure to spotlight its own catalog.

Luis Silberwasser, chairman of TNT Sports, said on stage that he believes WBD is reaching new audiences after securing rights to a broad slate of marquee events.

Though the entertainment giant lost its NBA rights, it gained coverage of select College Football Playoff games, FIFA Club World Cup, the European rights to the Summer and Winter Olympics, Big 12 football and basketball games, Big East basketball games, the French Open and the new women’s basketball league Unrivaled.

And for the first year ever, the Stanley Cup Final will air on TNT Sports.

A key distribution engine in this expansion is Bleacher Report, which WBD says is the most popular digital destination for sports fans. WBD is getting access to expanded digital rights for the NFL, including highlights that will be shown on Bleacher Report’s YouTube channel.

“In a business that’s all about impressions, we choose to make them,” Voltaggio said.