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125-448: A second season, titled Trixie Motel: Drag Me Home , premiered on June 1, 2024 on Max . Mattel based the aesthetics of the motel on her drag character, her web series UNHhhh with Katya Zamolodchikova , and her beauty brand Trixie Cosmetics , among other inspirations. The location was originally named Ruby Montana's Coral Sands Inn; Mattel had originally planned to transform it into an Airbnb rental but changed her mind after viewing

250-667: 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

375-485: A board meeting prompted Steve Case to contact each of the directors and push for CEO Gerald Levin's ouster. Although Case's coup attempt was rebuffed by Parsons and several other directors, Levin became frustrated with being unable to "regain the rhythm" at the combined company and handed in his resignation in the fall of 2001, effective in May 2002. Although Co-COO Bob Pittman was the strongest supporter of Levin and largely seen as

500-587: A brief filed by the Justice Department, it was argued that the decision to approve the acquisition ran "contrary to fundamental economic logic and the evidence". On August 7, 2018, AT&T acquired the remaining controlling stake in Otter Media from the Chernin Group for an undisclosed amount. The company operated as a division of WarnerMedia. On August 29, 2018, Makan Delrahim told Recode that if

625-428: 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

750-552: A deal to amend the pre-existing contract HBO had with 20th Century Studios to allow Disney+ or Hulu and HBO Max to share 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

875-638: A discounted price on Max, and Max will be promoted as the main home for AEW PPVs. WarnerMedia Warner Media, LLC ( doing business as WarnerMedia ) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned by AT&T . It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City . It was established as Time Warner in 1990, following a merger between Time Inc. and Warner Communications. The company had film, television and cable operations. Its assets included WarnerMedia Studios & Networks (which consisted of

1000-458: A government official the following day, with the latter criticizing the reports as being an effort to politicize the deal. Stephenson also disputed the relevance of CNN to the antitrust concerns surrounding the acquisition, as AT&T did not already own a national news channel. On November 20, 2017, the Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit over the acquisition; Delrahim stated that

1125-491: A major corporate revamp that resulted in TBS, TNT and TruTV being brought back under the same umbrella as Cartoon Network/Adult Swim, Boomerang and TCM, under a consolidation of WarnerMedia Entertainment and Warner Bros. Entertainment's respective assets that formed the combined WarnerMedia Studios & Networks Group unit. Casey Bloys—who has been with WarnerMedia since 2004 (as director of development at HBO Independent Productions), and

1250-498: A meeting between AT&T CEO Randall L. Stephenson and Makan Delrahim , assistant Attorney General of the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division , indicated that AT&T had been recommended to divest DirecTV or Turner Broadcasting, seek alternative antitrust remedies, or abandon the acquisition. Some news outlets reported that AT&T had been ordered to specifically divest CNN, but these claims were denied by both Stephenson and

1375-596: A merger structure in which each original company merged into a newly created entity. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) cleared the deal on December 14, 2000, and gave final approval on January 11, 2001; the company completed the merger later that day. The deal was approved on the same day by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and had already been cleared by the European Commission (EC) on October 11, 2000. AOL Time Warner Inc. , as

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1500-525: 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

1625-478: A movie review aggregator. In June 2012, Time Warner acquired Alloy Entertainment , a publisher and television studio whose works are aimed at teen girls and young women. On August 6, 2012, Time Warner acquired Bleacher Report , a sports news website. The property was placed under the control of the Turner Sports division. On March 6, 2013, Time Warner intended to spin off its publishing division Time Inc. as

1750-515: 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

1875-521: 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

2000-478: 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

2125-516: A result of planned cost cutting programs, the sale of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment was proposed, but ultimately abandoned due to COVID-19 related growth in the Gaming industry, as well as a positive reception to upcoming DC Comics , Lego Star Wars , and Harry Potter titles from fans and critics. Crunchyroll was sold to Sony 's Funimation for US$ 1.175 billion in December 2020, with

2250-555: 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

2375-573: A separate, publicly traded company. The transaction was completed on June 6, 2014. In January 2014, Time Warner, Related Companies , and Oxford Properties Group announced that the then Time Warner intended to relocate the company's corporate headquarters and its New York City-based employees to 30 Hudson Yards in the Hudson Yards neighborhood in Chelsea, Manhattan , and has accordingly made an initial financial commitment. Time Warner sold its stake in

2500-497: 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

2625-403: A smaller company made up of Turner Broadcasting, Warner Bros. and HBO. On February 28, 2008, co-chairmen and co-CEOs of New Line Cinema Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne resigned from the 40-year-old movie studio in response to Jeffrey Bewkes' demand for cost-cutting measures at the studio, which he intended to dissolve into Warner Bros. In 2009, Time Warner spun out its Time Warner Cable division (it

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2750-553: 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 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

2875-451: A television production company, for £100 million. Its distribution operation, Outright Distribution, was folded into Warner Bros. International Television Production. On August 26, 2010, Time Warner acquired Chilevisión . WarnerMedia already operated in the country with CNN Chile . In May 2011, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group acquired Flixster , a movie discovery application company. The acquisition also includes Rotten Tomatoes ,

3000-464: 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

3125-582: 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

3250-435: 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 the United States on May 27, 2020. The service also carries first-run original programming under the " Max Originals " banner, programming from

3375-638: Is now part of Charter Communications), and later AOL, as independent companies; AOL was later purchased by Verizon in 2015. In the first quarter of 2010, Time Warner purchased additional interests in HBO Latin America Group for $ 217 million, which resulted HBO owning 80% of the equity interests of HBO LAG. In 2010, HBO purchased the remainder of its partners' interests in HBO Europe (formerly HBO Central Europe) for $ 136 million, net of cash acquired. In August 2010, Time Warner agreed to acquire Shed Media,

3500-702: 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

3625-536: Is responsible for sales and distribution), while Turner gained access to Warner Bros.' post-1950 library, as well as other Warner Bros.-owned properties. The Turner deal also brought two separate film companies, New Line Cinema and Castle Rock Entertainment , both of which were integrated into Warner Bros. The Turner deal also gave Time Warner Entertainment access to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)'s pre-May 1986 library. Time Warner Entertainment completed its purchase of Six Flags Theme Parks in 1993 after buying half of

3750-544: The AT&;T SportsNet regional networks led by CNN president Jeff Zucker . Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Boomerang, their respective production studios, as well as Turner Classic Movies and Otter Media would be moved directly under Warner Bros. Gerhard Zeiler moved from being president of Turner International to chief revenue officer of WarnerMedia, and would oversee the consolidated advertising and affiliation sales. David Levy and HBO chief Richard Plepler stepped down as part of

3875-565: 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

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4000-535: The Columbus Circle building for $ 1.3 billion to Related and two wealth funds. The move would be completed in 2019. In June 2014, Rupert Murdoch made a bid for Time Warner at $ 85 per share in stock and cash ($ 80 billion total) which Time Warner's board of directors turned down in July. Time Warner's CNN unit would have been sold to ease antitrust issues of the purchase. On August 5, 2014, Murdoch withdrew his offer to purchase Time Warner. On October 20, 2016, it

4125-498: The Oprah Winfrey Network series David Makes Man . On September 18, 2020, it 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

4250-616: The 1970s and 1980s. It also owned DC Comics and Mad magazine . The European publishing division, which produced magazines and comics, was known as Williams Publishing ; thanks to a prior acquisition (from Gilberton World-Wide Publications ), it had European-language branches in the United Kingdom, Denmark , Finland , France , Germany , Italy , the Netherlands, Norway , and Sweden . Most of these publishers were sold off around 1979. During its time as Warner Communications,

4375-478: The AOL division dropped significantly, not unlike the market valuation of similar independent internet companies that drastically fell, and forced a goodwill write-off , causing AOL Time Warner to report a loss of $ 99 billion in 2002 — at the time, the largest loss ever reported by a company. The total value of AOL stock subsequently went from $ 226 billion to about $ 20 billion. An outburst by Vice-Chairman Ted Turner at

4500-420: The AOL division for failing to meet expectations and dragging down the combined company. AOL Time Warner COO Pittman, who expected to have the divisions working closely towards convergence instead found heavy resistance from many division executives, who also criticized Pittman for adhering to optimistic growth targets for AOL Time Warner that were never met. Some of the attacks on Pittman were reported to come from

4625-679: 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

4750-469: The Department of Justice provided insufficient evidence that the proposed transaction would result in lessened competition. He also warned the government that attempting to obtain an appeal or stay on the ruling would be manifest unjust, as it would cause "certain irreparable harm to the defendants". On June 14, 2018, AT&T announced that it had closed the acquisition of Time Warner. Jeff Bewkes stepped down as CEO of Time Warner while retaining ties with

4875-450: 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

5000-536: 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

5125-555: 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 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

Trixie Motel - Misplaced Pages Continue

5250-494: 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

5375-512: 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

5500-501: The Time Inc. acquisition and the lawsuit, and allowing the two companies to merge, which was completed on January 10, 1990. US West partnered with Time Warner Entertainment in 1993 to form what was later known as TW Telecom , initially known as Time Warner Communications (also utilized as the brand name for cable operation previously under the ATC name), in order to bring telephone via fiber to

5625-567: The Time Warner board on October 31, 2005. Jeff Bewkes , who eventually became CEO of Time Warner in 2008, described the 2001 merger with AOL as 'the biggest mistake in corporate history'. In 2005, Time Warner was among 53 entities that contributed the maximum of $ 250,000 to the second inauguration of President George W. Bush . On December 27, 2007, newly installed Time Warner CEO Jeffrey Bewkes discussed possible plans to spin off Time Warner Cable and sell off AOL and Time Inc. This would leave

5750-480: The Turner Broadcasting System. Its assets were dispersed across two new camps, WarnerMedia Entertainment and WarnerMedia News & Sports. WarnerMedia Entertainment would consist of HBO, TBS, TNT, TruTV, and the direct-to-consumer video service HBO Max. WarnerMedia News & Sports would have CNN Worldwide, Turner Sports (later known briefly as Warner Bros. Discovery Sports, and TNT Sports from 2023), and

5875-423: 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

6000-525: 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 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 ,

6125-451: 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

6250-758: The WarnerMedia Entertainment and Warner Bros. Entertainment assets into a new unit, WarnerMedia Studios & Networks Group. On May 17, 2021, nearly three years after the acquisition, AT&T decided to leave the entertainment business by announcing that it had proposed to sell its ownership of WarnerMedia in a merger with Discovery, Inc. to form a new publicly traded company, Warner Bros. Discovery . The deal closed on April 8, 2022. The company's previous assets included Time Inc., TW Telecom , AOL , Time Warner Cable , AOL Time Warner Book Group , and Warner Music Group ; these operations were either sold to others or spun off as independent companies. The company

6375-525: The acquisition closing in August 2021. On December 21, 2020, WarnerMedia acquired You.i TV, an Ottawa , Ontario -based developer of tools for building cross-platform video streaming apps. The company's products have been the basis of various WarnerMedia streaming platforms, including AT&T TV Now and the Turner channels' apps, and would be used as part of international expansion of HBO Max. On May 16, 2021, it

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6500-410: The acquisition, and was completed two days later, when the company became a subsidiary of AT&T. The company's final name was adopted a day later. Under AT&T, the company moved to launch a streaming service built around the company's content, known as HBO Max. WarnerMedia refolded Turner's entertainment-based networks under a singular umbrella unit on August 10, 2020, through a consolidation of

6625-509: 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

6750-601: 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,

6875-427: 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

7000-559: The case. 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. On December 14, 2018, Kevin Reilly, president of TNT and TBS, was promoted to chief content officer of all WarnerMedia digital and subscription activities, including HBO Max, reporting to both Turner's president David Levy and WarnerMedia's CEO John Stankey. The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington D.C. unanimously upheld

7125-507: The chief financial officer. According to AOL President and COO Bob Pittman, the slow-moving Time Warner Entertainment would now take off at Internet speed, accelerated by AOL: "All you need to do is put a catalyst to [Time Warner Entertainment], and in a short period, you can alter the growth rate. The growth rate will be like an Internet company." The vision for Time Warner Entertainment's future seemed clear and straightforward; by tapping into AOL, Time Warner Entertainment would reach deep into

7250-470: The co-head of a new strategy committee of the board, making speeches to divisions on synergism and the promise of the Internet. However, under pressure from institutional investor vice-president Gordon Crawford who lined up dissenters, Case stated in January 2003 that he would not stand for re-election as executive chairman in the upcoming annual meeting, making CEO Richard Parsons the chairman-elect. In July 2003,

7375-558: The company as senior advisor of AT&T. John Stankey , who headed the AT&;T/Time Warner integration team, took over as CEO. On the next day, AT&T renamed the company as WarnerMedia (legally Warner Media, LLC). On July 12, 2018, the Department of Justice filed a notice of appeal with the D.C. Circuit to reverse the District Court's approval. Although the Department of Justice reportedly contemplated requesting an injunction to stop

7500-491: The company dropped the "AOL" from its name, and spun off Time-Life 's ownership under the legal name Direct Holdings Americas, Inc. On November 24, 2003, Time Warner announced they would sell the Warner Music Group , which hosted a variety of acts such as Madonna and Prince , to an investor group led by Edgar Bronfman Jr. and Thomas H. Lee Partners , in order to cut its debt down to US $ 20 billion. Case resigned from

7625-449: The company in 1991, saving it from financial trouble. The company was later sold to Oklahoma-based theme park operator Premier Parks under certain terms and conditions on April 1, 1998. Dick Parsons, already a director on the board since 1991, was hired as Time Warner Entertainment president in 1995, although the division operational heads continued to report directly to chairman and CEO Gerald Levin . In 1991, HBO and Cinemax became

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7750-506: The company in 2003, relegating the name to a subdivision under Time Warner Cable. On October 10, 1996, Time Warner Entertainment acquired Turner Broadcasting System , which was established by Ted Turner in 1965. Not only did this result in the company re-entering the cable television industry as a national programmer, but Warner Bros. also regained the rights to their pre-1950 film library, which by then had been owned by Turner (the films are still technically held by Turner, but Warner Bros.

7875-421: The company made several further acquisitions. In 1979, Warner formed a joint venture with credit card company American Express called Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment . This company owned such cable channels as MTV , Nickelodeon , The Movie Channel , and VH1 (which was launched in 1985 on the channel space left by Turner 's Cable Music Channel ). Warner bought out American Express's half in 1984 and sold

8000-465: 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

8125-628: 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

8250-523: The company was then called, was supposed to be a merger of equals with top executives from both sides. Gerald Levin , who had served as chairman and CEO of Time Warner Entertainment, was CEO of the new company. AOL co-founder Steve Case served as Executive Chairman of the board of directors, Robert W. Pittman (president and COO of AOL) and Dick Parsons (president of Time Warner) served as Co-Chief Operating Officers, and J. Michael Kelly (the CFO from AOL) became

8375-458: 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

8500-450: The deal from closing after the District Court's ruling, the department ultimately did not file the motion because WarnerMedia's operation as a separate group from the rest of AT&T would make the business relatively easy to unwind should the appeal be successful. The next day, however, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson told CNBC that the appeal would not affect its plans to integrate WarnerMedia into AT&T, or services already launched. In

8625-449: The deal would "greatly harm American consumers". AT&T asserted that this suit was a "radical and inexplicable departure from decades of antitrust precedent". On December 22, 2017, the merger agreement deadline was extended to June 21, 2018, under a vote of confidence. On June 12, 2018, District Judge Richard J. Leon ruled in favor of AT&T, thus allowing the acquisition to go ahead with no conditions or remedies. Leon argued that

8750-564: The deal, leaving the review to the Department of Justice (DOJ). On March 15, 2017, the merger was approved by the European Commission (EC). On August 22, 2017, the merger was approved by the Mexican Comisión Federal de Competencia . On September 5, 2017, the merger was approved by the Chilean Fiscalía Nacional Económica. In the wake of the U.S. presidency of Donald Trump , Time Warner's ownership of CNN

8875-550: 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

9000-507: The entertainment assets of Turner Broadcasting , HBO , and Cinemax as well as Warner Bros. , which itself consisted of the film, animation, television studios, the company's home entertainment division and Studio Distribution Services, its joint venture with Universal Pictures Home Entertainment , DC Comics , New Line Cinema , and, together with CBS Entertainment Group , a 50% interest in The CW ); WarnerMedia News & Sports (consisted of

9125-454: The expected synergies between AOL and other Time Warner Entertainment divisions never materialized, as most Time Warner Entertainment divisions were considered independent fiefs that rarely cooperated prior to the merger. A new incentive program that granted options based on the performance of AOL Time Warner, replacing the cash bonuses for the results of their own division, caused resentment among Time Warner Entertainment division heads who blamed

9250-481: The first premium pay services to offer multiplexing to cable customers, with companion channels supplementing the main networks. In 1993, HBO became the world's first digitally transmitted television service. In 1995, CNN introduced CNN.com which later became a leading destination for global digital news, both online and mobile. In 1996, Warner Bros. spearheaded the introduction of the DVD, which gradually replaced VHS tapes as

9375-444: The first two episodes via their YouTube channel. Trixie has also used part of the first episode as her opening act during her "Grown Up" tour to help promote the series. Max (streaming service) 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

9500-462: 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

9625-473: The government were to win the appeal, AT&T would only sell Turner and if they lost the appeal then the February 2019 expiration of a consent decree AT&T reached with the Justice Department shortly before the deal closed would allow AT&T to do what they want with Turner. The appeal was expected to have zero impact on the integration. By September 2018, nine state Attorneys General sided with AT&T on

9750-427: The heir-apparent, Dick Parsons was instead chosen as CEO. Time Warner Entertainment CFO J. Michael Kelly was demoted to COO of the AOL division and replaced as CFO by Wayne Pace. AOL Chairman and CEO Barry Schuler was removed from his position and placed in charge of a new "content creation division", being replaced on an interim basis by Pittman, who was already serving as the sole COO after Parsons' promotion. Many of

9875-453: The homes of tens of millions of new customers. AOL would use Time Warner Entertainment's high-speed cable lines to deliver to its subscribers Time Warner Entertainment's branded magazines, books, music, and movies. This would have created 130 million subscription relationships. However, the growth and profitability of the AOL division stalled due to advertising and loss of market share to the growth of high-speed broadband providers. The value of

10000-962: 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

10125-575: 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

10250-484: 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

10375-410: The lower court's ruling in favor of AT&T on February 26, 2019, stating it did not believe the merger with Time Warner would have a negative impact on either consumers or competition. The Justice Department declined to appeal the decision further, thus allowing the consent decree to expire. On March 4, 2019, AT&T announced a major reorganization of its broadcasting assets to effectively break-up

10500-401: The masses. US West also took a 26% stake in the entertainment portion of the company, calling that division Time Warner Entertainment. US West's stake eventually passed to acquired cable company MediaOne , then to AT&T Broadband in 1999 when that company acquired MediaOne, then finally to Comcast in 2001 when that company bought the AT&T Broadband division. Comcast sold their stake in

10625-459: The merger, were chosen because they were considered the most successful operational executives in the conglomerate and they would report to AOL Time Warner CEO Richard Parsons. Logan, generally admired at Time Warner Entertainment and reviled by AOL for being a corporate timeserver who stressed incremental steady growth and not much of a risk-taker, moved to purge AOL of Pittman allies. AOL Time Warner Chairman Steve Case took on added prominence as

10750-441: The new company while Time Warner Entertainment shareholders owned only 45%, so in actual practice AOL had merged with Time Warner Entertainment, even though Time Warner Entertainment had far more assets and revenues. Time Warner Entertainment had been looking for a way to embrace the digital revolution, while AOL wanted to anchor its stock price with more tangible assets. The deal, officially filed on February 11, 2000, employed

10875-413: The new streaming service. On May 31, 2019, Otter Media was transferred from Warner Bros. to WarnerMedia Entertainment, and Otter's COO Andy Forssell became the executive vice president and general manager of the streaming service, while still reporting to Otter CEO Tony Goncalves — who would lead development. On July 9, 2019, it was announced that the new streaming service would be known as HBO Max , which

11000-584: The newly created media and communications group, overseeing America Online, Time, Time Warner Cable, the AOL Time Warner Book Group, and the Interactive Video unit, relegating AOL to being just another division in the conglomerate. Bewkes became chairman of the entertainment and networks group, comprising HBO, Cinemax, New Line Cinema, The WB, TNT, Turner Networks, Warner Bros., and Warner Music Group. Both Logan and Bewkes, who had initially opposed

11125-470: The news and sports assets of Turner Broadcasting, including CNN , Turner Sports , and AT&T SportsNet ); WarnerMedia Sales & Distribution (consisted of digital media company Otter Media ); and WarnerMedia Direct (consisted of the HBO Max streaming service). Despite spinning off Time Inc. in 2014, the company retained the Time Warner name until 2018, when the company was renamed WarnerMedia after it

11250-468: 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

11375-482: 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

11500-529: The print media in the Time, Inc. division under Don Logan . Furthermore, CEO Parsons' democratic style prevented Pittman from exercising authority over the "old-guard" division heads who resisted Pittman's synergy initiatives. Pittman resigned as AOL Time Warner COO after July 4, 2002, being reportedly burned out by the AOL special assignment and almost hospitalized, unhappy about the criticism from Time Warner executives, and seeing nowhere to move up in firm as Parsons

11625-466: 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,

11750-488: The property. According to Mattel she spent around $ 1.9 million to purchase the space and $ 500,000 to renovate it, enlisting designer Dani Dazey to collaborate on the project. Celebrity guests appear throughout the series to assist the owners and give them advice on how to renovate their property. Additionally, many of the guest stars from the season came to the housewarming party, including Orville Peck, Nicole Byer, Nicholas Scheppard, Jenson Titus, and Katya. The trailer for

11875-573: The reorganization, which was described by The Wall Street Journal as being intended to end "fiefdoms". Turner Podcast Network, formed within Turner Content Distribution in 2017, became WarnerMedia Podcast Network by May 2019. In May 2019, Kevin Reilly signed a four-year extension of his contract with the company, which additionally made him president of TruTV (alongside the other three WarnerMedia Entertainment basic cable networks), and chief content officer of direct-to-consumer for

12000-449: The same umbrella as AT&T's telecommunication holdings, including satellite provider DirecTV . The deal faced criticism for the possibility that AT&T could use Time Warner content as leverage to discriminate against or limit access to the content by competing providers. On February 15, 2017, Time Warner shareholders approved the merger. On February 28, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Ajit Pai refused to review

12125-482: 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

12250-462: The series was released via YouTube on May 4, 2022, featuring Mattel's song "Stay the Night" from her fourth studio album The Blonde & Pink Albums , which was also used as the series' opening theme; Mattel said that she wrote the song with the series in mind before a television deal had been struck. Shortly after the series' premiere Discovery+ published ten-minute sneak peek clips of the beginnings of

12375-456: 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

12500-400: 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

12625-531: 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

12750-437: 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

12875-402: The standard format for home video in the late 1990s and early to mid-2000s. In 1999, HBO became the first national cable television network to broadcast a high–definition version of its channel. In January 2000, America Online (AOL) stated its intentions to purchase Time Warner Entertainment for $ 183 billion. Due to the larger market capitalization of AOL, their shareholders would own 55% of

13000-572: 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),

13125-536: 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

13250-493: The two companies were to merge. During the summer of 1989, Paramount Communications (then Gulf+Western ) launched a $ 12.2 billion hostile bid to acquire Time Inc. in an attempt to end a stock-swap merger deal between Time Inc. and Warner Communications. Time Inc. raised its bid to $ 14.9 billion in cash and stock. Paramount responded by filing a lawsuit in a Delaware court to block the Time Warner merger. The court ruled twice in favor of Time Inc., forcing Paramount to drop both

13375-438: 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

13500-556: The venture a year later to the original iteration of Viacom , which renamed it MTV Networks (now known as Paramount Media Networks). In 1982, Warner purchased Popular Library from CBS Publications . By the mid to late 1980s, Warner began to face financial difficulties. From 1976 to 1984, Warner Communications owned Atari, Inc. , but suffered substantial losses due to the video game crash of 1983 , and had to spin them off in 1984. Taking advantage of Warner Communications' financial situation, Time Inc. announced on March 4, 1989, that

13625-504: 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

13750-408: Was acquired by AT&T. On October 22, 2016, AT&T officially announced that they intended on acquiring Time Warner for $ 85.4 billion (or $ 108.7 billion when including assumed Time Warner debt), valuing the company at $ 107.50 per share. The proposed merger was confirmed on June 12, 2018, after AT&T won an antitrust lawsuit that the U.S. Justice Department filed in 2017 to attempt to block

13875-497: 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

14000-536: 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

14125-405: 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 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

14250-450: Was considered a potential source of scrutiny for the deal, as Trump had repeatedly criticized the network for how it covered his administration , and stated during his campaign that he planned to block the acquisition because of the potential impact of the resulting consolidation. Following his election, however, his transition team stated that the government planned to evaluate the deal without prejudice. On November 8, 2017, reports of

14375-423: Was eventually elevated to President of Programming at HBO and Cinemax in May 2016—added oversight of WarnerMedia's basic cable networks and HBO Max to his purview. In October 2020, it was announced that the company was planning to execute over a 1,000 job cuts in order to reduce costs. WarnerMedia plans to reduce costs by at least 20% in order to deal with the profit shortage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic . As

14500-404: Was firmly entrenched as CEO. Pittman's departure was seen as a great victory to Time Warner executives who wanted to undo the merger. In a sign of AOL's diminishing importance to the media conglomerate, Pittman's responsibilities were divided between two Time Warner Entertainment veterans; Jeffrey Bewkes who was CEO of Home Box Office, and Don Logan who had been CEO of Time. Logan became chairman of

14625-518: Was launched on May 27, 2020. In September 2019, Stankey was promoted to AT&T president and chief operating officer. By April 1, 2020, former Hulu chief Jason Kilar took over as WarnerMedia CEO. In August 2020, the company had a significant restructuring laying off around 800 employees including around 600 from Warner and 150+ from HBO. At WarnerMedia's Atlanta base, marketing and cable operations teams were particularly affected. On August 10, 2020, WarnerMedia restructured several of its units in

14750-441: 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;

14875-511: 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

15000-505: 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

15125-534: Was ranked No. 98 in the 2018 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue. On February 10, 1972, the entertainment assets of the Kinney National Company were reincorporated as Warner Communications due to a financial scandal involving price fixing in its parking operations. Warner Communications served as the parent company for Warner Bros. Pictures , the Warner Music Group (WMG), Warner Books and Warner Cable during

15250-428: 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

15375-477: Was reported that AT&T was in talks to acquire Time Warner. The proposed deal would give AT&T significant holdings in the media industry. AT&T's competitor Comcast had previously acquired NBCUniversal in a similar bid to increase its media holdings, in concert with its ownership of television and internet providers. On October 22, 2016, AT&T reached a deal to buy Time Warner for $ 85.4 billion. The merger would bring Time Warner's properties under

15500-449: Was reported that AT&T was in talks with Discovery, Inc. —which primarily operated television channels and platforms devoted to non-fiction and unscripted content—for it to merge with WarnerMedia, forming a publicly traded company that would be divided between its shareholders. The proposed spin-off and merger was officially announced the next day, which is to be structured as a Reverse Morris Trust . AT&T shareholders would receive

15625-538: 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

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