Variety: HBO Max’s Conversion to Max to Hit Latin America, Caribbean in February

Story from Variety:

The HBO Max makeover to Max is heading overseas.

In the U.S., Warner Bros. Discovery in May 2023 killed off the “HBO Max” name and replaced it with Max — which folded in a ton of new content from HBO Max’s Conversion to Max to Hit Latin America, Caribbean in February Discovery’s networks like Food Network and HGTV and included several new features.

Now the media conglomerate has announced that HBO Max will be converted to Max in all 39 territories where the service is available in Latin America and the Caribbean on Feb. 27. It’s the first international region to introduce the platform as part of Warner Bros. Discovery’s global rollout.

In Latin America, Max will offer a streaming catalog with more than 37,000 hours of content — more than double the amount currently on HBO Max in those countries. As with the U.S. rollout, Warner Bros. Discovery touts Max as “more robust” (i.e. reliable) and providing more personalization features and an enhanced user interface.

Content on Max in the region, as in the U.S., will come from Warner Bros. Discovery’s stable of networks and studios, including HBO, Warner Bros., the DC Universe, Discovery, Discovery Home & Health, ID, Discovery Kids, Cartoon Network and Adult Swim. In addition, the platform’s content offering will include the first-window streaming rights of films from major studios such as Sony Pictures and NBCUniversal (in Spanish-speaking markets) as well as live programming including “Awards’ Season” and live sporting events (in some countries); and a variety of local original productions developed with Latin American creators and artists.

At launch, Max in Latin America will offer three plans, each with monthly and discounted annual payment options: Basic With Ads (two streams); Standard (two streams, up to 30 downloads for offline viewing); and Premium (four streams, up to 4K resolution, up to 100 downloads for offline view). Those plans and their features line up with Max U.S.

As of Feb. 27, current subscribers of HBO Max in the region — whether they have subscribed directly to the platform or through one of HBO Max’s partners — will have access to Max. Current subscribers will keep their existing HBO Max plan features and price for a limited time following the launch of Max, according to Warner Bros. Discovery. Those who subscribed to HBO Max with the 50% launch offer billed through HBO Max will keep the promotion as long as they comply with the terms and conditions of that promotion.

The changeover to Max will carry over HBO Max subscribers’ current profiles, settings and viewing history. Depending on device or operating system, the HBO Max app will be automatically updated to the Max app on Feb. 27. In other cases, when users open their HBO Max app, they will be prompted to download the new Max app.