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HBO Max is an upcoming American Internet video on demand service by WarnerMedia Entertainment, a division of WarnerMedia. The service will launch on May 27, 2020.
Casey Bloys, programming president of HBO, oversees HBO Max programming while Kevin Reilly, president of the WarnerMedia Entertainment Networks, also is chief content officer of HBO Max taking care of all new originals and library content. Andy Forssell is the service's executive vice president and general manager while still reporting to Otter Media CEO Tony Goncalves, who leads development.
History[]
On October 10, 2018, WarnerMedia announced that it will launch an over-the-top streaming service in late 2019, featuring content from its entertainment brands. The original plan for the service called for three tiers with a late 2019 launch. WarnerMedia's parent AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson 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 full launch in first quarter 2020 at 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 the for direct-to-consumer development exited the post after six months. Andy Forssell transferred from being 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 their upcoming streaming service would be named HBO Max and launch in spring 2020. Also announced at that time was that Friends would be taken off Netflix for the launch, while Reese Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine and Greg Berlanti were signed to production deals for the service.
