A general view of atmosphere at HBO Max WarnerMedia Investor Day Presentation at Warner Bros Studios on Oct 29, 2019 in Burbank, California.(PHOTO / BLOOMBERG)
HBO Max launches in just two days, and it has the potential to be one of the best streaming-TV apps out there. The only problem is, consumers donât seem to have a clue whatâs on it.
In a poll earlier this month conducted by Morning Consult and the Hollywood Reporter, some 2,000 US adults were asked to choose from a list of TV shows and movie titles which ones they think will be available on HBO Max, a new Netflix-like service being introduced by AT&T Inc.âs WarnerMedia division. The results should worry company executives:
HBO has stood as a force all its own for so long that most people just donât realize it shares a parent company with Warner Bros. studios and other TV networks, such as Cartoon Network, TBS and Turner Classic Movies
As the chart shows, hardly any of the respondents knew that HBO Max would be the exclusive streaming destination for the hit sitcoms âFriendsâ and âThe Big Bang Theoryâ â highly sought-after content rights that WarnerMedia reportedly spent more than US$900 million to secure for the new service. It also wasnât apparent to the survey takers that DC Comics films and âSesame Streetâ would reside on HBO Max.
HBO has stood as a force all its own for so long that most people just donât realize it shares a parent company with Warner Bros. studios and other TV networks, such as Cartoon Network, TBS and Turner Classic Movies. Thatâs too bad since the same poll showed that the inclusion of such content would make many consumers more likely to subscribe. The most telling response, though: Most of the people polled didnât even think that âGame of Thronesâ â the premier series of HBOâs entire 47-year history â would be accessible through HBO Max, even though it has âHBOâ in the name.
Consumers can be forgiven for the confusion. Americansâ experience so far with streaming-TV apps is that nothing is intuitive and everything is hard to find. For example, itâs not like ESPN+ is a digital replica of regular ESPN; itâs a different product entirely. And for years âFriendsâ has been available on Netflix, so young people may only know it as a Netflix show. Without being aware of HBOâs ownership and WarnerMediaâs recent dealmaking, thereâs no obvious reason Central Perk would be on the same block as Sesame Street, around the corner from Westeros on the streaming continent of HBO Max. To make matters more confusing, streaming regular HBO (through the HBO Now app) and signing up for HBO Max costs exactly the same â US$15 a month.
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Disney+, which has signed up more than 50 million users since its November launch, doesnât share HBO Maxâs branding conundrum. The only thing survey takers seemed to know for sure is that âThe Mandalorianâ isnât part of HBO Max. And thatâs probably because Walt Disney Co. has so successfully reestablished âStar Warsâ as a Disney property, even though it has only owned the franchise since 2012. The same goes for Pixar and Marvel. Itâs for that reason that the biggest hangup of Disney+ â being so narrowly focused on superheroes and kid-friendly programming â can also be a strength.
The biggest challenge for other streaming services may be building loyalty when viewers arenât quite sure what to expect. The move away from appointment viewing on cable TV means that while weâre loyal to particular series and trilogies, we donât necessarily know (or care) what networks or studios theyâre tied to.
For WarnerMedia, thereâs still certainly a powerful advantage in continuing to use the HBO name for its new product â right away it tells people to expect great content (and hopefully that quality isnât sacrificed while trying to keep up with the Netflix production factory). At the same time, it makes it difficult and costly to educate consumers on what HBO Max even is. Thatâs especially true when some of its content is temporarily licensed from its very competitors, such as Disneyâs âThe Mighty Ducksâ and âX-Men: Dark Phoenix,â thanks to distribution deals that predate the streaming wars. (Remember, âX-Menâ is Marvel, not the DC Extended Universe.)
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HBO Max could give other apps a run for their money. But how do you easily explain that itâs just like regular HBO, but it has all this other stuff youâll probably like as well, yet it doesnât cost anything extra? Good luck fitting that into a compelling advertisement.