HBO Go's new status has a bunch of HBO Max users confused. The launch of WarnerMedia's new streaming platform has been a bit strange in a land of almost unlimited entertainment options. Now, the HBO Go branding will be phased out in favor of consolidating the brands. HBO Now will now be known as simply HBO, and HBO Max will remain basically the same. When the new streaming service launched, there was a ton of confusion surrounding who had access to what content. Now, Warner is making moved to alleviate that confusion, but people are still a bit lost. It really boils down to HBO Go disappearing, HBO Now getting a new name, and HBO Max being the big standalone product at the end of all of this.
Warner media's statement clarifies, "Now that HBO Max has launched and is widely distributed, we can implement some significant changes to our app offering in the U.S. As part of that plan, we will be sunsetting our HBO GO service in the U.S. We intend to remove the HBO GO app from primary platforms as of July 31, 2020."
It continues, "Most customers who have traditionally used HBO GO to stream HBO programming are now able to do so via HBO Max, which offers access to all of HBO together with so much more. Additionally, the HBO NOW app and desktop experience will be rebranded to HBO. Existing HBO NOW subscribers will have access to HBO through the rebranded HBO app on platforms where it remains available and through play.hbo.com. HBO Max provides not only the robust offering of HBO but also a vast WarnerMedia library and acquired content and originals through a modern product."
CEO of AT&T's Otter Media division, Tony Conclaves had an interview with Nilay Patel and Julia Alexander of The Verge. The man in charge of HBO Max anticipated that there could be this kind of shift in that interview.
Conclaves began, "Actually, what we're expecting, given the success that we've had in closing the deals with the [cable operators], is that subscribers start using HBO Max as a place to get their HBO services as well as all of this other content. And at such time that we feel like a good volume, if not the entirety of the base, is engaging on that platform versus another one, we'll make a decision."
"But right now, I mean, you just said it. You prefer to go to use HBO Go. I really encourage you to use HBO Max primarily because it's got more content," he continued. "And if you're using HBO Go because you're a cable subscriber, chances are that you can just log in to HBO Max."
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