What is happening with HBO Max?
That has been the question on people’s minds since the popular streaming platform, launched in 2020, announced its plan to undergo massive changes that will affect how users interact with it.
Fans will have to be patient for the full details as the change has to do with the upcoming merger between the platform and Discovery +. However, the fate of some tiles on the platform has been sealed.
HBO Max Set To Remove Popular Titles From Streaming Platform
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HBO Max, home to many classic and mainstream Films and TV shows, is about to switch up big time on its content. Users of the streaming platform will notice that many of their favorite things to watch can no longer be found, leaving many wondering why.
According to Variety, about 36 titles, including 20 original titles, will be removed from its service. Addressing users, a platform spokesperson attributed the sudden change to merging the service platform and Discovery+, which Warner Bros. Discovery owns. The spokesperson said:
“As we work toward bringing our content catalogs together under one platform, we will be making changes to the content offering available on both HBO Max and discovery+.”
The statement further reads that doing this will “include the removal of some content from both platforms.” Although an exact date for the merger is yet to be announced, Warner Bros. Discovery expects that removing lesser-watched titles would help cut costs and save money.
To that end, HBO Max will not add new original reality shows or documentaries since Discovery+ already has a long roster of those titles. For existing HBO Max reality non-fiction programs, viewing success will determine renewals.
Regardless of when the merger happens, well-loved works like “Ravi Patel’s Pursuit of Happiness,” “About Last Night,” “Aquaman: King of Atlantis,” “Summer Camp Island,” “Little Ellen,” “My Mom, Your Dad,” “Odo,” “The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo,” “The Runaway Bunny,” “Theodosia,” “Tig n’ Seek,” “Yabba Dabba Dinosaurs,” and “Generation,” are amongst the HBO Max original titles being removed.
Other acquired titles like “Detention Adventure,” “Messy Goes to Okido,” “Mia’s Magic Playground,” “The Ollie & Moon Show,” “Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures,” and “Make It Big, Make It Small” will also be getting booted from the streaming platforms.
Fans And Critics Alike Kick Against The Impending HBO Max, Discovery+ Merger
Although the reason behind this merger is to create a unified streaming system between the platforms, the method taken so far might not be the best. Unfortunately, this change has not been received kindly by the public, as it seems to streamline choices.
It also leaves fans wondering what would happen to their favorite content moving forward, as plans for physical copies in the form of DVDs have not been divulged to the public yet. The Blast shared that not only were already existing titles going to be removed by Warner Bros. but new and upcoming projects previously teased and advertised have been quietly erased.
If you thought this decision only impacted subscribers, you have another thing coming, as several indications point to the move affecting the pockets of accomplished actors and actresses.
One of the new projects slated for removal was the upcoming DC film, “Batgirl.” This removal prompted actress Leslie Grace to express her thoughts by saying she was proud of her team and the effort they put into filming the movie for over seven months in Scotland.
Users and critics have also voiced their displeasure on several social media platforms. One user called the decision “the single dumbest decision made by any corporation in the streaming age.” Chase Mitchell, a writer, stated that the decision was a “hard wake-up call” for creatives in the age of streaming.
He followed it with, “I have a few things on Netflix that weren’t a big deal, and the fact they could just cease to exist at any time feels insane. Good or bad, if you make something, you want it there.” Famous critic Kayleigh Donaldson encouraged her followers to invest more in physical media, believing that streaming services could not be bothered about the “archiving and preservation of cinema.”
The next few months will be interesting for HBO owners, its users, and content creators.
