The market has spoken here, and quality is the real differentiator.” To put it more plainly: The basic assumption behind the Max branding, that viewers would flock to Discovery’s big buckets of unscripted dross over the decades of quality material in HBO and other Warner Bros.

Gunnar Wiedenfels told an investors conference "there’s a lot more openness to discuss the options" ahead for additional industry consolidation in a disruptive streaming era.

Warner Bros. Discovery came to their senses and will switch Max's name back to "HBO Max" starting this summer.