Now Streaming: Max to become HBO Max again

“Now Streaming” is The Fly’s weekly recap of the stories surrounding the biggest content streamers.

PLAYING THIS WEEKEND: This weekend’s most notable new streaming content is crime thriller “Duster,” created by J.J. Abrams and LaToya Morgan and starring Josh Holloway. The series is a Max (WBD) original. Also out this weekend for Apple TV+ (AAPL) subscribers is science fiction action comedy series “Murderbot,” which stars Alexander Skarsgaard. Additionally, Hulu users can check out the latest season of sports docuseries “Welcome to Wrexham.”

HBO MAX IS BACK: Warner Bros. Discovery announced that Max, the company’s streaming platform, will be rebranded HBO Max this summer. “WBD’s streaming business has incredible momentum, turning around its profitability by almost $3B in just two years and scaling globally with 22M subscribers added over the past year, with a clear path to over 150M+ by the end of 2026,” the company said in a statement. “Returning the HBO brand into HBO Max will further drive the service forward and amplify the uniqueness that subscribers can expect from the offering. It is also a testament to WBD’s willingness to keep boldly iterating its strategy and approach – leaning heavily on consumer data and insights – to best position itself for success,” it added.

Meanwhile, Deadline reported that Warner Bros. Discovery’s CNN is planning to launch a subscription streaming service this fall, a mix of live programming and on-demand content.

NETFLIX UPFRONT: At the company’s 2025 upfront event, Netflix (NFLX) president of advertising, Amy Reinhard, announced the company has now reached 94M global monthly active users on its advertising tier, reported Adweek’s Bill Bradley. The company announced in November that it was reaching 70M monthly active users on the ad tier.

Following the upfront event, Evercore ISI said it is “incrementally positive” on Netflix, with Seaport raising its price target on thte shares to $1,230 from $1,060. The firm believes Netflix’s in-house advertising capabilities being built “with great flexibility in an array of formats, which will be a significant growth driver.” However, the company’s subscription price increases and membership growth will still underpin the majority of its revenue, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Seaport says that “while pricey,” the shares have also exhibited “recession-resilience.” This helps to frame the notion that Netflix shares should remain a core holding with limited downside, contends the firm. Analysts from Baird, Canaccord, and Wolfe also raised their price targets on Netflix this week.

ESPN DTC: Disney’s (DIS) ESPN announced that its new direct-to-consumer streaming service will be named “ESPN,” with fans will have two ESPN DTC plans from which to choose, including an unlimited package that delivers the entire suite of ESPN networks and content. The plans will cost $29.99/month for the unlimited package and $11.99/month for a select option. There will also be bundling opportunities for the ESPN unlimited plan with Disney+ and Hulu, including a special offer at launch for $29.99/month for the first 12 months. It was previously announced that the direct-to-consumer offering will launch in early fall and that ESPN will continue to be available through traditional MVPDs and DMVPDs. The unlimited plan will give fans access to all of ESPN’s linear networks – ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SECN, ACCN, ESPNEWS, ESPN Deportes – in addition to ESPN on ABC, ESPN+, ESPN3, SECN+, and ACCNX, covering 47,000 live events each year, on-demand replays, studio shows, original programming, and more. Existing ESPN+ subscribers will automatically become subscribers to ESPN’s new service, based on their current subscription level. Standalone ESPN+ subscribers get the ESPN select plan, and Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ bundle subscribers get the ESPN select bundle. At launch, ESPN will introduce a series of enhancements to the ESPN App on mobile and connected TV devices. The new features and functionality will be available to all fans who watch on the ESPN App, whether they subscribe directly or through a traditional pay TV package. Fans with subscriptions to the Disney+, Hulu and ESPN bundles will be able to watch ESPN content within Disney+ seamlessly alongside Disney and Hulu entertainment and family programming. Additional details, including the specific launch date, will be announced later this summer.

FOX/MLB: John Nallen, President and Chief Operating Officer for Fox Corporation (FOXA), said while presenting at the MoffettNathanson 2025 Media, Internet & Communications Conference this week about sports media rights packages that are in the market: “So those rights through this baseball season are all secure. ESPN has its contract. We have ours. The other ones that are out there. And I recognize after this season, baseball has to deal with what was, the what is the ESPN package. We have a great relationship with Major League Baseball. It’s a core property to Fox, like the other rights that I mentioned. So to the extent that we can extend our relationship with baseball, where it makes sense for both of us, we would be happy to do that.” Asked in a follow-up about UFC and IndyCar/Formula One and how those two properties potentially fit within the Fox portfolio, Nallen replied, according to a transcript of the event: “I doubt you’d see us as finalists for either of those two.”

STOCK PLAYS: Other publicly traded companies in the space include Amazon (AMZN), Roku (ROKU), Paramount (PARA), Comcast (CMCSA), and AMC Networks (AMCX).