Well, if news reports are to be believed, Discovery is launching its HBO Max replacement, called “Max,” in just a couple of days. I’m sad to say I’m a bit cynical about it. The last time we went through this, when HBO GO became HBO Max, it wasn’t completely smooth. More importantly, perhaps, when Discovery+ launched, it was about three weeks of near-chaos. The folks who brought us this chaos are supposedly the ones tasked with bringing Max to life. I’m sure they’re great people and they’re working hard. I just wanted to take one last opportunity to give my hopes for a smooth launch, and that the points I list below all go off without a hitch.
Hope #1: That it doesn’t stink.
Obviously this is not something you could actually measure. In fact one person could think the app stinks while another one likes it. It’s highly subjective. But for me, not stinking would be menus that I could actually use to get around. It would be a lack of auto-playing video and images that grow to double width when you’re on them. It would be an experience that just doesn’t get in the way of finding what I want.
Hope #2: That it doesn’t crash.
Seems to me this is going to be a tough one. Apparently they’re building the app from scratch, rather than using all the hard work that’s already been done to the HBO Max app. I don’t know why. Honestly I can’t say the last time the HBO Max app gave me trouble.
I’m hoping that when I press play, it plays. When I press pause, it pauses. That sort of thing. Is that so much to ask?
Hope #3: That the stuff I liked about HBO Max is still there
Honestly I have the least confidence in this one. HBO Max used to be a content powerhouse. It may not have been a profitable one, but it had everything you wanted. Slowly, a lot of great programming left the service. I’m a little worried that this next generation will remove more of the old movies and WB content that I love. It’s a fair bet that it will.
Hope #4: That I can cancel Discovery+.
Honestly, I’m not a big fan of Discovery+. Part of it is the content, which I personally don’t find generally appealing. But the app is still way too loud and navigation isn’t any fun. I’m hoping that the content that people in my household do watch will move over to Max and that I can cancel Discovery+ once and for all. That would be a silver lining to all of this.
I’m worried that there’s going to be “just enough” Discovery content on Max to interest you, but if you want full seasons of something you’ll have to pay for Discovery+. After all, David Zaslav isn’t interested in saving me money, only his stockholders. So while I would be pleasantly surprised if I could cancel Discovery+, I’m not counting on it.
Hope #5: That they figure out the whole 4K thing.
As I understand it, you’ll be able to pay for different tiers of Max. There will be an ad-supported one and a commercial-free one just like there is now, but there will be a third tier which is where you’ll get 4K content with Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision. It will be about $4 more. At the moment, if you subscribe to HBO using your pay-TV subscriber, you get the commercial-free tier with all the 4K and everything. But what happens next? I’m guessing that you won’t get 4K if you subscribe with your pay-TV provider. Will you be able to just pay the $4 for the top tier, or will you have to subscribe at full price? It’s yet to be seen, but supposedly that third tier isn’t launching right away so we’ll all get there together.
Hope of all hopes: Something to watch, please!
Seemingly overnight, HBO Max went from must-have to meh as top content left the service. At the same time, of course new movies went back to theaters. The result is that I watch a lot less HBO Max than I used to. I’m hoping that we’ll finally see something on HBO Max that really justifies the price on a consistent basis. The Last of Us was good, but we won’t see another season of that for a year or more. What do you have up your sleeve, Max? Better make it good or all the attention your new app gets won’t get you anywhere.
