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114-522: Max , formerly (and in some regions still) known as HBO Max , is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. It is a proprietary unit of Warner Bros. Discovery Global Streaming & Games , which is itself a division of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). The platform offers content from the libraries of Warner Bros. , Discovery , HBO , CNN , Cartoon Network , Adult Swim , Animal Planet , TBS , TNT , Eurosport , and their related brands. Max first launched (as HBO Max) in

228-501: A DEC Alpha –based computer for its VOD servers, allowing it to support more than a million users. By 1994 the Oracle scalable VOD system used massively parallel processors to support from 500 to 30,000 users. The SGI system supported 4,000 users. The servers connected to networks of increasing size to eventually support video stream delivery to entire cities. In the UK, from September 1994,

342-669: A nutritional supplement company. WBD officially unveiled Max on April 12: the new service would first launch in the United States on May 23, and in other regions throughout 2023 and 2024. While the new service maintains similar price points to HBO Max, support for 4K resolution video and Dolby Atmos became exclusive to the new "Ultimate" tier, and the ad-free plan was also reduced from four concurrent streams to two. In addition to all Warner Bros. Pictures releases from 2023 onward, WBD plans to have more library films and television series available on Max in 4K. Perrette explained that

456-518: A portable media player for continued viewing. The majority of cable and telephone company –based television providers offer VOD streaming, whereby a user selects a video programme that begins to play immediately (i.e., streaming), or downloading to a DVR rented or purchased from the provider, or to a PC or to a portable device for deferred viewing. Streaming media has emerged as an increasingly popular medium of VOD provision over downloading, including BitTorrent . Desktop client applications such as

570-563: A subscription model that requires users to pay a monthly fee for access to a selection of movies, television shows, and original series. In contrast, YouTube , another Internet-based VOD system, uses an advertising-funded model in which users can access most of its video content free of charge but must pay a subscription fee for premium content. Some airlines offer VOD services as in-flight entertainment to passengers through video screens embedded in seats or externally provided portable media players. Downloading and streaming VOD systems provide

684-575: A subscription business model in which subscribers are charged a regular fee to access unlimited programs. Examples of these services include Netflix , Hulu , Amazon Prime Video , Max , Disney+ , Peacock , Paramount+ , Apple TV+ , Disney+ Hotstar , iQIYI , Star+ , Hayu , BET+ , Discovery+ , Crunchyroll , SonyLIV , ZEE5 , and GulliMax . Near video on demand (NVOD) is a pay-per-view consumer video technique used by multi-channel broadcasters using high-bandwidth distribution mechanisms such as satellite and cable television. Multiple copies of

798-531: A 20-year deal to stream movies on demand over Enron's fiber-optic network. The heavily promoted deal failed, with Enron's share prices dropping following the announcement. In 1998, Kingston Communications became the first UK company to launch a fully commercial VOD service and the first to integrate broadcast television and Internet access through a single set-top box using IP delivery over ADSL. By 2001, Kingston Interactive TV had attracted 15,000 subscribers. After several trials, Home Choice followed in 1999 but

912-648: A VOD service formed a major part of the Cambridge Digital Interactive Television Trial. This provided video and data to 250 homes and several schools connected to the Cambridge Cable network, later part of NTL, now Virgin Media . The MPEG-1 encoded video was streamed over an ATM network from an ICL media server to set-top boxes designed by Acorn Online Media. The trial commenced at a speed of 2 Mbit/s to

1026-425: A combined total of 69.4 million paying subscribers globally on June 30, 2021, including 43.5 million HBO Max subscribers in the U.S., 3.5 million HBO-only U.S. subscribers (primarily commercial customers like hotels), and 20.5 million subscribers to either HBO Max or HBO by itself in other countries. By the end of 2021, HBO and HBO Max had a combined total of 73.8 million paying global subscribers. At

1140-498: A copper telephone cable to provide a VOD service of acceptable quality as the required bandwidth of a digital television signal is around 200   Mbps , which is 2,000 times greater than the bandwidth of a speech signal over a copper telephone wire. VOD services were only made possible as a result of two major technological developments: MPEG ( motion-compensated DCT ) video compression and asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) data transmission. Plans such as those of

1254-665: A digital content company, which eventually merged with FilmBuff. In November 2016, Otter Media and actress Reese Witherspoon formed Hello Sunshine , a joint venture focused on telling female-driven stories on film, TV, and digital platforms; the company was later sold to a media company backed by the Blackstone Group. In January 2018, Otter Media bought the remaining stake in Ellation, the owner of VRV and Crunchyroll , and integrated it as Otter Media's Consumer Division. On June 20, 2018, Recode reported that AT&T

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1368-406: A discounted price on Max, and Max will be promoted as the main home for AEW PPVs. Video on demand#Subscription models Television VOD systems can stream content, either through a traditional set-top box or through remote devices such as computers, tablets, and smartphones. VOD users may also permanently download content to a device such as a computer, digital video recorder (DVR) or,

1482-552: A few months. PVOD made a return during the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting global closures of cinemas . Certain films that had already been released including The Invisible Man were quickly also released on VOD platforms for a higher rental price than usual, while other films including Trolls World Tour were released simultaneously on PVOD and in drive-in theaters , or in some cases directly to PVOD only. In most cases, these PVOD releases are offered through most of

1596-456: A legal peer-to-peer approach based on Kontiki technology to provide very-high-capacity multi-point downloads of the video content. Instead of the video content all being downloaded from Sky's servers, the content comes from multiple users of the system who have already downloaded the content. Other UK television broadcasters implemented their own versions of the same technology, such as Channel 4 's 4oD (4 on Demand, now known as All 4 ) which

1710-531: A month after the season finale airs on television (streaming rights to existing series remains with Netflix under an existing deal). Although the All American spin-off, All American: Homecoming , which premiered on the CW in 2022, was placed on Netflix with its parent show. On July 9, 2019, HBO Max acquired the U.S. streaming rights to Friends in a $ 425 million deal, and on September 17, 2019, acquired

1824-680: A new introduction by Turner Classic Movies host Jacqueline Stewart discussing the film's treatments of the American Civil War , the Reconstruction era , and American slavery of African people . On June 27, 2020, it was revealed that DC Universe original Harley Quinn would stream its first two seasons on HBO Max. On June 29, 2020, HBO Max secured the exclusive streaming rights of the Oprah Winfrey Network series David Makes Man . On September 18, 2020, it

1938-790: A piece of content once purchased via the Internet; and download to rent (DTR), by which customers can access the content for a limited time upon renting. Examples of TVOD services include the Apple iTunes Store and the Google Play Store, as well as VOD rental services offered through multichannel television (i.e., cable or satellite) providers. Premium video on demand (PVOD) is a version of TVOD which allows customers to access video-on-demand content several weeks or months earlier than their customary TVOD or home video availability – often feature films made available alongside, or in place of,

2052-526: A pilot. On October 2, 2024, WBD renewed its contract with professional wrestling promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW), which adds digital rights for Max in the United States. As part of the agreement, Max will hold the rights to simulcast AEW's weekly programs beginning in January 2025. Later in the year, AEW pay-per-view events will become available for purchase and streaming on Max; while PPVs will continue to be sold through other platforms, they will have

2166-415: A programme are broadcast at short time intervals (typically staggered on a schedule of every 10–20 minutes) on linear channels providing convenience for viewers, who can watch the programme without needing to tune in at the only scheduled point in time. A viewer may only have to wait a few minutes before the next time a movie will be programmed. This form is bandwidth-intensive, reduces the number of channels

2280-638: A provider can offer, and is generally provided by large operators with a great deal of redundant capacity. This concept has been reduced in popularity as video on demand is implemented, along with providers often wanting to provide the maximum throughput for their broadband services possible. Only the satellite services DirecTV and Dish Network continue to provide NVOD services, as they do not offer broadband and much of their rural customer base only has access to slower dial-up and non- 5G wireless and satellite internet options which cannot stream films or have onerous data caps (and where possible, AT&T

2394-474: A reboot of The Boondocks produced by Sony Pictures Animation ) for both network sections were also announced for HBO Max, and the service beat out competitors to acquire exclusive domestic streaming rights to South Park and its next three seasons for $ 500 million–with first-run episodes being added 24 hours after their premiere on Comedy Central . Fellow Otter Media company Rooster Teeth also contributes content, with season two of Gen:Lock to be

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2508-554: A result, Greenblatt and Reilly both left the company. WarnerMedia Entertainment was dissolved, with programming operations combined with Warner Bros. in a new Studios and Networks group under that studio's CEO Ann Sarnoff. Bloys was given complete programming oversight of HBO and HBO Max, as well as Reilly's other previous responsibilities, reporting to Sarnoff. Forssell became the head of a new HBO Max operating business unit, reporting directly to Kilar. On April 23, 2021, Adult Swim and HBO Max's adult animation development teams merged under

2622-414: A set-top box with a one-terabyte hard drive that could be used for video-on-demand services previously offered through cable television and broadband. A movie, for example, could be sent out once using a broadcast signal rather than numerous times over cable or fiber-optic lines, and this would not involve the expense of adding many miles of lines. Sezmi planned to lease part of the broadcast spectrum to offer

2736-494: A six-month period, with their shares falling 19% as a result. In May 2024, WBD announced a partnership with Disney to offer a bundle of Max with its competitors Disney+ and Hulu in the United States, It was launched on July 25, 2024, at a price of $ 16.99 per-month for ad-supported, and $ 29.99 per-month for ad-free. Existing HBO Max subscribers were grandfathered under their current plan features for least six months, following that period all legacy ad free customers were moved to

2850-433: A subscription service that National Association of Broadcasters President Gordon H. Smith said would provide a superior picture to that of cable or satellite at a lower cost. Developing VOD requires extensive negotiations to identify a financial model that would serve both content creators and cable providers while providing desirable content for viewers at an acceptable price point. Key factors identified for determining

2964-865: A subscription to the Disney+ streaming service, but they then retain access as long as they maintain their subscription (for Mulan , this was effectively a 90-day rental, as the film became available to all Disney+ subscribers at no extra charge in December). It has been reported that the pandemic had contributed to a transformation in movie distribution in favor of PVOD over traditional movie houses, as studios were able to realize 80% of revenue through PVOD versus 50% of traditional theater box office receipts. Theater owners including AMC and Cinemark, as well as suppliers including IMAX and National CineMedia, all experienced significant drops in revenues during shutdowns related to COVID-19. Subscription VOD ( SVOD ) services use

3078-475: A system of digital video recorders to simulate the video-on-demand experience. Most of Edge Spectrum's channels, where they are on air, carry televangelism . Push video on demand is so-named because the provider "pushes" the content out to the viewer's set-top box without the viewer having requested the content. This technique is used by several broadcasters on systems that lack the connectivity and bandwidth to provide true "streaming" video on demand. Push VOD

3192-480: A team of lifeguards in the North Shore of O'ahu , Hawaii . HBO Max would not go forward with the series, and it would instead be given a series order by Fox as Rescue: HI-Surf . In August 2021, Funimation , a subsidiary of Sony , purchased Crunchyroll from AT&T for $ 1.175 billion, with the intent to create a combined service that caters to anime entertainment. On January 1, 2022, HBO Max removed

3306-465: A television series adaptation of Harry Potter planned to premiere in the 2025–26 season and run for ten years, and It: Welcome to Derry —a prequel series to Andy Muschietti 's film adaptation of It . It also announced the animated series Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai and Tiny Toons Looniversity , with the former premiering alongside the rebrand on May 23, 2023. In June 2023, Max picked up

3420-585: A timed exclusive for HBO Max. All eight films in the Harry Potter series were available to stream on the service on launch day, despite earlier reports indicating that the films, although produced by Warner Bros., would not be available due to a prior broadcast rights agreement with NBCUniversal . It was later announced that the films would be removed on August 25 and made available on NBCUniversal's streaming service Peacock . However, it officially brought them back on September 1, 2021, after an adjustment in

3534-411: A traditional release in movie theaters – but at a much higher price point. A version of the model was tested in 2011 by American satellite TV provider DirecTV under the brand name "Home Premiere", which allowed viewers to rent select films from major studios for US$ 30 per rental as soon as 60 days after they debuted in cinemas, compared to 120 days for the regular TVOD window; this version only lasted

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3648-606: A unit of Fullscreen. On March 4, 2019, following the reconstruction of WarnerMedia's businesses, Otter Media became part of Warner Bros. Entertainment . However, on May 31, it was transferred to the WarnerMedia Entertainment division in order to oversee HBO Max . In September 2019, Crunchyroll announced it had acquired a majority stake in Viz Media Europe from Hitotsubashi Group , and later rebranded Viz Media Europe as Crunchyroll SAS . As

3762-493: A user to view content. This technology also provides an advantage for technology companies for data analysis of viewed content from consumers. By analyzing data of what is viewed most by consumers, companies can purchase more content that is aimed for an audience, and then in-turn market products that are based on what viewer profiles are of a group of consumers who viewer a specific amount of content. This data analysis will often provide researchers valuable data that includes: what

3876-694: Is a cable VOD service that also offers pay-per-view. Once the programs have been downloaded onto a user's PVR, he or she can watch, play, pause, and seek at their convenience. VOD is also common in expensive hotels. According to the European Audiovisual Observatory , 142 paying VOD services were operational in Europe at the end of 2006. The number increased to 650 by 2009. At the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada , Sezmi CEO Buno Pati and president Phil Wiser showed

3990-603: Is a device that is Internet capable. Cable media companies have combined VOD with live streaming services. The early-2020s launches of apps from cable companies (e.g., NBC 's Peacock , CBS 's Paramount+ ) are attempts to compete with Subscription Video on Demand (SVOD) services because they lack live news and sports content. Streaming video servers can serve a wide community via a WAN , but responsiveness may be reduced. Download VOD services are practical in homes equipped with cable modems or DSL connections. Servers for traditional cable and telco VOD services are usually placed at

4104-435: Is also used by broadcasters that want to optimize their video streaming infrastructures by pre-loading the most popular contents to the consumers' set-top device. If the consumer requests one of these films, it is already loaded on her or his DVR. A push VOD system uses a personal video recorder (PVR) to store a selection of content, often transmitted in spare capacity overnight or all day long at low bandwidth. Users can watch

4218-583: Is now prioritizing their streaming service AT&T TV , which utilizes a fully immediate VOD experience, over DirecTV ). Before the rise of VOD, the cable pay-per-view provider In Demand provided up to 40 channels in 2002, with several films receiving four channels on a staggered schedule to provide the NVOD experience for viewers. As of 2018, most cable pay-per-view channels now number mainly 3–5, and are used mainly for live ring sports events (boxing and professional wrestling), comedy specials, and concerts, though

4332-705: Is released weekly, eschewing the " binge " format made popular by Netflix . Kevin Reilly stated this was to ensure that originals would remain in the spotlight for extended periods, by letting said shows "breathe" as opposed to "fading quickly after a binge and burn". He also noted that the weekly schedule helped to drive the success of past HBO shows like Succession and Chernobyl which they co-produced with Sky UK , and became hits precisely due to their staying power. A slate of 31 original series were planned for its first year, with plans to expand to 50 for its next year, but production timelines may have been interrupted by

4446-516: The COVID-19 pandemic . Max also has podcasts about the films and TV series on the service. It also produces original podcasts exclusively for the service, with Batman: The Audio Adventures being the first. New Warner Bros. -produced television series that have premiered on The CW since the 2019–20 season beginning with Batwoman , Nancy Drew and Katy Keene (which was cancelled in July 2020) will have their past seasons placed on Max about

4560-714: The Digital Cinema Initiative , in 2002. The BBC, ITV and Channel 4 planned to launch a joint platform provisionally called Kangaroo in 2008. This was abandoned in 2009 following complaints, which were investigated by the Competition Commission . In that same year, the assets of the now-defunct Kangaroo project were acquired by Arqiva , who used the technology to launch the SeeSaw service in February 2010. A year later, however, SeeSaw

4674-510: The Laservision media format and featured a jukebox -like media handling system involving players served by disc carousels, with twelve such handler units capable of serving up to 6,000 customers. Other early VOD systems used tapes as the real-time source of video streams. GTE started as a trial in 1990, with AT&T providing all components. By 1992, VOD servers were supplying previously encoded digital video from disks and DRAM . In

Max (streaming service) - Misplaced Pages Continue

4788-496: The Roku Channel, Samsung TV Plus , Amazon Freevee , Popcornflix , Crackle , Tubi , Movies Anywhere , Vudu , Dailymotion , and YouTube . Walmart is adding ASVOD original programming to Vudu, and YouTube Originals will be ASVOD by 2020. Data analysis When technology companies, include SVOD apps on their devices, like phones, tablets, televisions, game systems, computers, this can remove an attitude obstruction for

4902-401: The Apple iTunes online content store and Smart TV apps such as Amazon Prime Video allow temporary rentals and purchases of video entertainment content. Other Internet-based VOD systems provide users with access to bundles of video entertainment content rather than individual movies and shows. The most common of these systems, Netflix , Hulu , Disney+ , Peacock , Max and Paramount+ , use

5016-682: The Caribbean outside of Brazil. In February 2022, Sony Pictures and WarnerMedia announced that they will extend their agreement to carry films from its subsidiary companies in its Central and Eastern Europe pay television window rights window along with the library of television series produced by its sister company Sony Pictures Television Studios , the deal will also include the rights to its releases beginning in 2022 for broadcasting on its channels and will be streaming it on HBO Max throughout Central and Eastern Europe. The service also features many hubs for animated programming, drawing largely from

5130-483: The Crunchyroll hub, instead redirecting subscribers to a "global animation" page that combines selected anime with other international animated films. Since then, the service has slowly started to remove anime from Crunchyroll's line up. On November 22, 2021, Disney and WarnerMedia reached a deal to amend the pre-existing contract HBO had with 20th Century Studios to allow Disney+ or Hulu and HBO Max to share

5244-454: The Disney deal with WarnerMedia for streaming 20th Century Studios and Searchlight Pictures films on HBO Max ended in 2022, with Disney+ and Hulu assuming the full pay-one rights to those films in the future. On February 15, 2022, it was announced that first-run episodes of South Park would move to Paramount+ beginning with season 27 in 2024, and the series library would move from HBO Max to

5358-538: The End of This Story . On March 8, 2022, WarnerMedia and Sesame Workshop announced they will plan new shows for Cartoon Network for the new original series run and a second run acquisition rights HBO Max, including Charlotte's Web , and Bea's Block as well as the animation special Sesame Street: The Nutcracker . In addition, new episodes to start of the 53rd season of Sesame Street and spin-offs will be available to stream on HBO Max in selecting Asian territories while holding

5472-539: The HBO and Warner Bros. logos, including a center-dotted "a" resembling the center-dotted "O" from the HBO logo, and the "m" and "x" letters containing curves based on Warner Bros.' long-time shield logo. The service also changed its corporate color from purple to blue, in homage to Warner Bros.' historical use of blue-colored logos. The rebrand was promoted with the tagline "The one to watch". Pato Spagnoletto, chief marketing officer of Warner Bros. Discovery Streaming, identified

5586-515: The HBO branding had been dropped from the service's name so that it could be associated with its original programming as a flagship brand on Max, rather than having to be associated with the entirety of its library—which included children's and family programming at odds with HBO having traditionally been associated with premium and adult-oriented programming. The Max logo was designed by the British agency DixonBaxi, and incorporates elements of both

5700-626: The Integrated Network System, a national high-capacity fibre-optic network supporting a range of broadband services in Japan, noted in a more general 1986 publication, were interpreted as conducive to eventual VOD deployment. However, early VOD trials employed existing cable television infrastructure, notably British Telecom's video library trial, operated through the Westminster Cable Company. This trial used

5814-416: The U.S. and Japan, to produce original content for Crunchyroll and VRV. On December 4, 2018, Otter announced a broad restructuring that would result in the layoff of about ten percent of its staff. As part of the reorganization, Machinima, which had been part of Warner Bros. Digital Networks, was re-organized under Otter Media. Ellation will now house Rooster Teeth, Crunchyroll, and VRV, while Machinima became

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5928-421: The U.S. streaming rights to The Big Bang Theory , as part of a deal that also extends TBS's off-network rights to the series through 2028. Outside of Warner Bros. Discovery, the service also offers titles from The Criterion Collection , and has a long-term partnership with BBC Studios (which HBO had previously partnered with to create His Dark Materials ). Over 700 episodes of BBC content were available on

6042-675: The US, the 1982 anti-trust break-up of AT&T resulted in several smaller telephone companies nicknamed Baby Bells . Following this, the Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984 prohibited telephone companies from providing video services within their operating regions. In 1993, the National Communication and Information Infrastructure (NII) was proposed and passed by the US House and Senate, opening

6156-407: The United States on May 27, 2020. The service also carries first-run original programming under the " Max Originals " banner, programming from the HBO pay television service, and content acquired via either third-party library deals (such as those with film studios for pay television rights) or co-production agreements (including, among others, those with BBC Studios and Sesame Workshop ). When

6270-507: The ad free tier (existing ad supported were moved to the ad lite tier). HBO Max was formed under WarnerMedia's Entertainment division, then headed by Robert Greenblatt . Kevin Reilly , president of WarnerMedia Entertainment Networks, which includes most of the company's ad-supported entertainment channels such as TBS , TNT , and TruTV , was also given the role of as chief content officer of HBO Max with responsibility for HBO Max-exclusive original programming and library content. Andy Forssell

6384-615: The agreement. On May 29, 2020, HBO Max acquired the exclusive streaming rights to The Big Bang Theory spin-off Young Sheldon . On June 9, 2020, Gone with the Wind was temporarily removed from HBO Max's library amid the George Floyd protests , following an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times by 12 Years a Slave screenwriter John Ridley . On June 25, the film returned in its original form with, as suggested by Ridley,

6498-400: The cable head-end, serving a particular market, and cable hubs in larger markets. In the telco world, they are placed in either the central office or a newly created location called a Video Head-End Office (VHO). VOD services first appeared in the early 1990s. Until then, it was not thought possible that a television programme could be squeezed into the limited telecommunication bandwidth of

6612-423: The campaign as the largest marketing spend in company history. WBD's stock fell by nearly six percent after Max's announcement. Within the first 3 months of Max's rebrand, WBD lost 1.8 million subscribers across their streaming platforms, but attributed it to an overlap of subscribers of Max and Discovery+, as well as expected churn. In November 2023, it was reported that WBD lost 2.5 million subscribers over

6726-482: The characters. Steven Spielberg is expected to return as executive producer. The show was given a two-season order. In February 2021, it was announced that WarnerMedia's international preschool brand Cartoonito would launch in the United States via Cartoon Network and HBO Max later in the year, with a slate of 50 series by 2023. In June 2021, HBO Max ordered a pilot from John Wells and Animal Kingdom writer Matt Kester for Ke Nui Road, an action drama following

6840-517: The company planned to pursue an eventual merger of HBO Max with its own streaming service Discovery+ . Wiedenfels stated that this process would most likely begin with a bundle of the two services as a short-term option, with a long-term goal to eventually merge the services into one platform. During an earnings call in August 2022, WBD head of Global Streaming and Interactive JB Perrette revealed that Discovery+ and HBO Max would merge "next Summer", with

6954-591: The company ultimately chose to retain Discovery+. As part of the decision, WBD migrated some Discovery+ shows to Max whilst also leaving them on Discovery+. WBD went on to replace HBO Max with a newly rebranded service, shortening the service's name to "Max", which launched in the United States on May 23, 2023, in Latin America on February 27, 2024, and in Europe on May 21, 2024, introducing a redesigned user interface, and adding more Discovery content. The rebrand

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7068-551: The content to other streaming services and, temporarily, make extra income like that too. In a reflection made by 2013 Netflix Chief Content Officer, Ted Sarandos , he was quoted saying, "When we launch in a territory the BitTorrent traffic drops as the Netflix traffic grows." This can be valuably interpreted as in that online piracy numbers drop the more that SVOD companies grow, which in turn means more revenue going back to

7182-461: The deal covers over 2,000 hours of library programming, some of which being shows that had been pulled from HBO Max. During its third-quarter earnings report in November 2022, WBD stated that the merged service was now targeting a "Spring 2023" launch in the U.S., ahead of the original schedule. Perrette also stated of a potential price increase for HBO Max's ad-free tier in 2023, explaining that it

7296-447: The downloaded content at the time they desire, immediately and without any buffering issues. Push VOD depends on the viewer recording content so choices can be limited. Advertising video on demand (AVOD) uses an advertising-based revenue model. This allows companies that advertise on broadcast and cable channels to reach people who watch shows using VOD. This model also allows people to watch content without paying subscription fees. Hulu

7410-507: The economic viability of the VOD model include VOD movie buy-rates and setting Hollywood and cable operator revenue splits. Cable providers offered VOD as part of digital subscription packages, which by 2005 primarily allowed cable subscribers to only access an on-demand version of the content that was already provided in the linear traditional broadcasting distribution. These on-demand packages sometimes include extras and bonus footage in addition to

7524-558: The end of Q1 2022, HBO and HBO Max had 76.8 million global subscribers. Since the April 2022 merger of WarnerMedia with Discovery, Inc. to form Warner Bros. Discovery, Max is one of the combined company's two flagship streaming services, the other being Discovery+ (which primarily focuses on factual and reality programming from the Discovery brands). WBD initially announced plans for HBO Max and Discovery+ to merge in 2023, but

7638-464: The front of the Max brand. Select episodes from all fifty seasons of Sesame Street (dating back to 1969) are available to stream on the service for the first time ever. Additionally, future seasons of Sesame Street will stream exclusively on Max, alongside Esme & Roy , and several new spin-offs starting with The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo , Sesame Street: Mecha Builders , and The Monster at

7752-476: The growing amount of marketing that is need to gain the attention of an audience, pinning down an exact budget for a film production can be difficult. Video on demand can have three release strategies that include: day-and-date (instantaneous release in theaters and on VOD), day-before-date (VOD before theatrical viewing), and VOD only. Production studios can make revenue on these types of releases until sales start to slow. After that, film companies can then license

7866-499: The home, subsequently increased to 25 Mbit/s. The content was provided by the BBC and Anglia Television . Although a technical success, difficulty in sourcing content was a major issue and the project closed in 1996. In 1997, Enron Corporation had entered the broadband market, constructing and purchasing thousands of miles of fiber-optic cables throughout the United States. In 2001, Enron and Blockbuster Inc. attempted to create

7980-504: The large downstream bandwidth present on their cable systems to deliver movies and television shows to end-users. These viewers can typically pause, fast-forward, and rewind VOD movies due to the low latency and random-access nature of cable technology. The large distribution of a single signal makes streaming VOD impractical for most satellite television systems. Both EchoStar / Dish Network and DirecTV offer VOD programming to PVR -owning subscribers of their satellite TV service. In Demand

8094-711: The latter two sources are declining due to streaming services offering much more lucrative performance contracts to performers, and several ring sports organisations (mainly UFC and WWE ) now prefer direct marketing of their product via streaming services such as ESPN+ , the WWE Network , and the apps of Fox Sports over pay-TV providers which require a portion of the profits they otherwise retain directly. In Australia, pay-TV broadcaster Foxtel offers NVOD for new-release movies over their satellite service. Edge Spectrum, an American holder of low-power broadcasting licenses, has an eventual business plan to use its network and

8208-955: The leadership of Suzanna Makkos. On August 15, 2022, HBO was reorganized by Warner Bros. Discovery, resulting in layoffs within HBO Max's non-scripted originals, live-action family originals, international originals, and casting units (HBO itself never had an in-house casting department). Makkos also began reporting to HBO's head of comedy Amy Gravitt. Max features first-run and library content from HBO and other Warner Bros. film and television studios and brands. The service also includes films available through HBO's existing pay television rights that are sourced from Warner Bros. Pictures only. As with HBO's other streaming platforms, HBO Go and HBO Now (but as opposed to its platforms on Apple TV Channels and Amazon Video Channels ), Max does not include feeds of HBO's linear cable channels, nor any content from Cinemax . Though Cinemax shares its film content with

8322-588: The libraries of Warner Bros. Animation (including the Looney Tunes franchise and Hanna-Barbera productions, such as Scooby-Doo , Tom and Jerry and Tex Avery 's cartoons as well) and Cartoon Network , along with Adult Swim . Original animated series (including the Adventure Time epilogue specials Adventure Time: Distant Lands , Jellystone! , Looney Tunes Cartoons , continuations of Infinity Train , and Summer Camp Island , and

8436-483: The linear HBO channel, and therefore the majority of films in the combined library will be on both services in different windows, these films will not necessarily be available on both Max and Cinemax at the same time. First and third-party content providers for Max. Asterisk (*) denotes third parties while cross (†) denotes former providers. Original content produced will be under the banner Max Originals , including series, films, and specials . Original episodic content

8550-736: The most common in the form of over-the-air television, VOD systems initially required each user to have an Internet connection with considerable bandwidth to access each system's content. In 2000, the Fraunhofer Institute IIS developed the JPEG2000 codec, which enabled the distribution of movies via Digital Cinema Packages. This technology has since expanded its services from feature-film productions to include broadcast television programmes and has led to lower bandwidth requirements for VOD applications. Disney , Paramount , Sony , Universal and Warner Bros. subsequently launched

8664-890: The network, and 3DO as the set-top box with video streams and other information to be deployed to 2,500 homes. In 1994–95, US West filed for a patent concerning the provision of VOD in several cities: 330,000 subscribers in Denver, 290,000 in Minneapolis, and 140,000 in Portland. In early 1994, British Telecommunications (BT) introduced a trial VOD service in the United Kingdom. It used the DCT-based MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 video compression standards, along with ADSL technology. Many VOD trials were held with various combinations of server, network, and set-top box. Of these

8778-464: The next day, WBD CEO David Zaslav stated that the company would cut children's programming and emphasize theatrical films over direct-to-streaming releases. Later that month, more programs were pulled from the streaming service, including animated and unscripted series such as The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo , Final Space , Summer Camp Island , Infinity Train , Close Enough , and nearly 200 episodes of Sesame Street , among others, which

8892-478: The platform worldwide. It was reported that France and Spain had been largely excluded from these cuts, due to French regulations requiring streaming services to produce domestic content, and Spanish-language content appealing to a wide range of markets served by HBO Max. With the cancellation of Gordita Chronicles later that month, it was reported that the service was also abandoning development of live-action children's and family programming. On August 3, 2022, it

9006-519: The primary players in the US were the telephone companies using DEC, Microsoft, Oracle, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, USA Video, nCube, SGI, and other servers. The DEC server system was the most-used in these trials. The DEC VOD server architecture used interactive gateways to set up video streams and other information for delivery from any of a large number of VAX servers, enabling it in 1993 to support more than 100,000 streams with full videocassette recorder (VCR)-like functionality. In 1994, it upgraded to

9120-463: The product offering". One day before the scheduled announcement, The New York Times confirmed that the service would be called "Max", and that it would retain HBO Max's existing pricing and be available in multiple price tiers for six months (on December 5 its legacy ad-free tier will be removed with former users in this tier downgrading to the ad-free tier after this date). WBD acquired the max.com domain name earlier that year from Max International,

9234-544: The production companies. Behavior detrimental to SVOD revenue Online piracy is detrimental to production companies that produce digital content. In a study that offered BitTorrent users a free SVOD subscription, the results of the research provided readers with information that show download and upload speeds in those homes decreased with a free subscription, but it could not prove decreased use in BitTorrent software. Otter Media Otter Media Holdings, LLC

9348-507: The regular content. Peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing software allows the distribution of content without the linear costs associated with centralised streaming media . This innovation proved it is technically possible to offer the consumer potentially every film ever made, and the popularity and ease of use of such services may have motivated the rise of centralised video-on-demand services. Some services such as Spotify use peer-to-peer distribution to better scale their platforms. Netflix

9462-676: The remaining stake of Otter Media in 2018, which was folded under the WarnerMedia subsidiary, and later divested Crunchyroll to Sony Pictures Television 's subsidiary company Funimation Global Group, LLC in 2021. In April 2014, AT&T and the Chernin Group established Otter Media as the 50:50 joint venture to offer OTT services . In January 2016, Otter Media invested in Van Toffler (former CEO of Viacom Media Networks Music Group) and Floris Bauer's Gunpowder & Sky,

9576-489: The same platforms as traditional TVOD, but at a higher price point, typically about US$ 20 for a 48-hour rental; this offering has again been branded as "Home Premiere" by some studios and platforms. Disney used the September 2020 release of the live-action remake of Mulan to launch a related model called Premier Access ; this requires customers to pay a premium fee (approximately US$ 26–30 depending on country) on top of

9690-485: The second run acquisition rights to replace PBS, more than a new first run for Cartoon Network. Max has acquired the streaming rights to several Comedy Central series, including South Park , Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens , South Side , and The Other Two ; with the latter two becoming Max Original series. In November 2021, HBO Max acquired the rights to Globo 's telenovelas and series for Latin America and

9804-455: The service at launch, including the first 11 seasons of the 2005 Doctor Who revival, as well as future seasons twelve through fourteen, and a variety of other shows including The Honourable Woman , Luther , Top Gear , and the original British version of The Office . Additionally, future shows by BBC Studios will be co-produced with Max. HBO also extended their existing partnership with Sesame Workshop , while moving said content to

9918-399: The service called for three tiers with a late 2019 launch. Randall L. Stephenson , chairman and CEO of WarnerMedia's parent, AT&T indicated in mid-May 2019 that it would use the HBO brand and would tie into cable operators as HBO cable subscribers would have access to the streaming service. A beta was expected in the fourth quarter of 2019 and a full launch in the first quarter of 2020 at

10032-475: The service in the United States in 2025. On August 4, 2022, it was announced that selected Magnolia Network programs would become available on HBO Max in September 2022. Discovery+ will remain the main streaming home of its programming. On October 7, 2022, HBO Max announced Harley Quinn : A Very Problematic Valentine's Day Special , which premiered on February 23, 2023. With the announced rebrand of HBO Max as Max, WBD announced several new projects, including

10146-705: The service was first launched as HBO Max, it succeeded both HBO Now , a previous HBO SVOD service; and HBO Go , the TV Everywhere streaming platform for HBO pay television subscribers. In the United States, HBO Now subscribers and HBO pay television subscribers were migrated to HBO Max at no additional charge, subject to availability and device support. HBO Max also supplanted the streaming component of DC Entertainment 's DC Universe service, with its original series being migrated to HBO Max as Max Originals. The HBO Max service began to expand into international markets in 2021. According to AT&T , HBO and HBO Max had

10260-436: The service would be known as HBO Max and that it would launch in spring 2020, while Reese Witherspoon 's Hello Sunshine and Greg Berlanti were signed to production deals for the service. (The "Max" moniker is shared with HBO's sister linear pay television service Cinemax , which has alternately identified by its suffix name since the mid-1980s and used it prominently in its branding from 2008 to 2011.) On October 29, 2019, it

10374-423: The streaming rights to half of 20th Century Studios' and Searchlight Pictures ' 2022 theatrical slate in the United States during the pay-one window, with Ron's Gone Wrong being the first film under the deal, becoming available on both Disney+ and HBO Max on December 15, 2021. Disney will still have full streaming rights to any 20th Century Studios and Searchlight Pictures films produced for Disney+ or Hulu, while

10488-582: The streaming service starting in 2020. On April 20, 2020, WarnerMedia announced HBO Max's launch date as May 27. Later that year on October 23, it was announced that WarnerMedia decided to consolidate the Warner Max label into the Warner Bros. Pictures Group after its chairman, Toby Emmerich , and his development and production team led by Courtenay Valenti of Warner Bros. Pictures, Richard Brener of New Line and Walter Hamada (who oversees DC-based films),

10602-583: The time. Otter Media was transferred in May 2019 to WarnerMedia Entertainment from Warner Bros. to take over the streaming service as Brad Bentley, executive vice president and general manager of direct-to-consumer development, exited the post after six months. Andy Forssell transferred from being the chief operating officer of Otter to replace Bentley as executive vice president and general manager while still reporting to Otter CEO Tony Goncalves, who would lead development. On July 9, 2019, WarnerMedia announced that

10716-436: The unified service launching first in the United States, and rolled out to other markets beginning in late-2023. When announcing the merged service, Zaslav did not immediately indicate whether it would continue to carry the HBO brand. He stated that HBO was one of the "great crown jewels of the company" and would "always be the beacon and the ultimate brand that stands for the best of television quality". In early-December 2022, it

10830-442: The user with features of portable media players and DVD players. Some VOD systems store and stream programs from hard disk drives and use a memory buffer to allow the user to fast-forward and rewind videos. It is possible to put video servers on local area networks ; these can provide rapid responses to users. Cable companies have rolled out their own versions of VOD services through apps, allowing television access wherever there

10944-460: The way for the seven Baby Bells— Ameritech , Bell Atlantic , BellSouth , NYNEX , Pacific Telesis , Southwestern Bell , and US West —to implement VOD systems. These companies and others began holding trials to set up systems for supplying video on demand over telephone and cable lines. In November 1992, Bell Atlantic announced a VOD trial. IBM was developing a video server code-named Tiger Shark. Concurrently, Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC)

11058-502: Was "an opportunity, particularly in this environment". A price hike for the ad-free tier in the U.S. was later announced on January 12, 2023, which saw the price raised by $ 1 to $ 15.99 a month (the yearly plan would be unaffected by this move), effective immediately for new subscribers, while current subscribers would see the price hike starting on February 11, 2023. On March 14, 2022, after Discovery shareholders approved its merger with WarnerMedia, Discovery CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels stated that

11172-434: Was a major AVOD company before ending its free service in August 2016, transferring it to Yahoo! View using the existing Hulu infrastructure. Crackle has introduced a series of advertisements for the same company that ties into the content that is being watched. Ad-Supported Video on Demand (ASVOD) refers to video services that provide free content supported by advertisements. Popular services include Pluto TV , Xumo ,

11286-561: Was also applied to Netherlands, Poland, France, Monaco and several other regions in 2024. In Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom, the rebrand will be applied in 2025, and in Belgium and the Netherlands the name "HBO Max" was retained with a new Max logo. On October 10, 2018, WarnerMedia announced that it would launch an over-the-top streaming service in late 2019, featuring content from its entertainment brands. The original plan for

11400-515: Was an American digital media company owned by Warner Bros. Discovery . The company was founded in 2014 by AT&T and The Chernin Group as a holding company of the anime streaming service Crunchyroll , in which the latter invested in 2013. In addition to Crunchyroll, it owned Rooster Teeth and held an ownership stake in Gunpowder & Sky with Floris Bauer. AT&T would later acquire

11514-540: Was announced that HBO Max would officially launch in May 2020. On January 8, 2020, AT&T announced that Audience , a channel exclusive to subscribers of AT&T-owned television providers such as DirecTV with some original programming, would be sunset on May 22, eventually transitioning to a barker channel for HBO Max. Warner Bros. and HBO Max announced the Warner Max film label on February 5, 2020, which would produce eight to ten mid-budget movies per year for

11628-521: Was announced that all DC Universe content would be migrating to HBO Max, including original shows like Titans and Young Justice , which will have their newest seasons air exclusively on the service. In addition, both Doom Patrol and Harley Quinn have been renewed for third seasons exclusively for the service. On October 28, 2020, it was announced that the 1990s series Tiny Toon Adventures would be rebooted for Cartoon Network and HBO Max as Tiny Toons Looniversity , featuring older versions of

11742-471: Was close to buying out Chernin's stake in Otter Media, on the heel of its acquisition of Time Warner (whose digital media holdings included Machinima ). On August 7, 2018, AT&T announced their acquisition of Chernin Group's stake in Otter Media for an undisclosed amount, believed to be around $ 1 billion. On August 22, 2018, Ellation formed Ellation Studios, a production studio with facilities in both

11856-556: Was developing a scalable video server configured from small-to-large for a range of video streams. Bell Atlantic selected IBM and in April 1993 the system became the first VOD over ADSL to be deployed outside the lab, serving 50 video streams. In June 1993, US West filed for a patent to register a proprietary system consisting of the Digital Equipment Corporation Interactive Information Server, Scientific Atlanta providing

11970-469: Was launched on 16 November 2006 and the BBC's iPlayer , which was launched on 25 December 2007. Another example of online video publishers using legal peer-to-peer technology is based on Giraffic technology, which was launched in early 2011, with large online VOD publishers such as US-based VEOH and UK-based Craze's Online Movies Box movie rental service. Unlike broadcast television, which traditionally has been

12084-437: Was met with heavy backlash from fans, critics, actors, and creators alike. On August 24, 2022, the HBO Max original films House Party (which was pulled from its slate just 17 days before its release) and Evil Dead Rise were both shifted to theatrical releases. WBD later reached licensing deals with the free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) services The Roku Channel and Tubi (owned by Fox Corporation ) in 2023;

12198-510: Was named the service's executive vice president and general manager while still reporting to Otter Media CEO Tony Goncalves, who leads development. Casey Bloys, programming president of HBO, retained oversight of the core HBO service but was not initially involved with Max-exclusive programming. On August 7, 2020, WarnerMedia announced a significant restructuring under new president Jason Kilar , which he described as "leaning into this great moment of change" towards direct-to-consumer services. As

12312-509: Was put to manage the company's entire film output, both theatrical and streaming releases. In July 2022, as a part of a cost-cutting and strategic move following the merger of Discovery, Inc. with WarnerMedia to form Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), it was reported that HBO Max had ceased new original series development in Central Europe , Nordic Europe , the Netherlands, and Turkey, as well as removed selected international series from

12426-425: Was reported by CNBC via inside sources that multiple names were being considered—including simply "Max". In February 2023, Zaslav revealed during an earnings call that WBD would officially announce the service on April 12. He also announced that WBD would continue operating Discovery+ in conjunction with the service rather than shut it down, stating that it was profitable, and that its subscribers were "very happy with

12540-533: Was reported that multiple Max Original films and HBO series had been quietly removed from the service without prior notice as part of cuts to direct-to-streaming films. The service then wrote off films and series that had underperformed. It was also thought that avoiding payment for residuals played a part. This followed news that had broken the previous day that then-upcoming Max Original films Batgirl and Scoob! Holiday Haunt had been both abruptly cancelled, despite being nearly complete. During an earnings call

12654-442: Was reported to be considering switching to a P2P model to cope with net neutrality problems from downstream providers. Transactional video on demand (TVOD) is a distribution method by which customers pay for each piece of video-on-demand content. For example, a customer would pay a fee for each movie or TV show that they watch. TVOD has two sub-categories: electronic sell-through (EST), by which customers can permanently access

12768-537: Was restricted to London. After attracting 40,000 customers, they were bought by Tiscali in 2006 which was, in turn, bought by Talk Talk in 2009. Cable TV providers Telewest and NTL (now Virgin Media) launched their VOD services in the United Kingdom in 2005, competing with the leading traditional pay-TV distributor BSkyB , which responded by launching Sky by broadband , later renamed Sky Anytime on PC . The service went live on 2 January 2006. Sky Anytime on PC uses

12882-449: Was shut down due to a lack of funding. VOD services are now available in all parts of the United States, which has the highest global take-up rate of VOD. In 2010, 80% of American Internet users had watched video online, and 42% of mobile users who downloaded video preferred apps to a normal browser. Streaming VOD systems are available on desktop and mobile platforms from cable providers (in tandem with cable modem technology). They use

12996-448: Was watched, when it was watched, what they watched after watching, and even how many people watched the same video at the same time in a day, month, and even year. Economics of SVOD Attendance in movie theaters had declined during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. Worldwide in 2019, theatrical entertainment reach 11.4 billion dollars, but in 2020, it was only 2.2 billion. Due recovery efforts to increase those attendance numbers, along with

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