How is the merged HBO Max/Discovery+ service going to be called?

Warner Bros. Discovery is deciding the name of its soon-to-be-launched streaming service that will combine the preexisting HBO Max and Discovery+ services. The merged platform’s expected name, Max, is being vetted by the company’s lawyers, according to people familiar with the matter cited in CNBC.

Although no formal decision has been made and the name is subject to change, Max is the likely choice, the sources told CNBC. Internally, Warner Bros. Discovery has given the new service a code name of “BEAM” while a final name is being debated. Lawyers are vetting other names as well.

In the company’s last earnings call, which was last month, Warner Bros. Discovery’s CEO, David Zaslav, announced that the merging of HBO Max and Discovery+ “was going so well” that the target date for the launch of the new service would be moving from summer 2023 to spring 2023.

“At the end of the day, putting all the content together was the only way we saw to make this a viable business,”  JB Perrette, President and CEO of Global Streaming and Games at Warner Bros. Discovery, said when the combination plans were first announced. Bringing HBO Max and Discovery+ together is aimed at cutting churn so “there is something for everyone in the household,”  he added.