Where? DiscoveryWarnerMedia’s Chief Executive Officer David Zaslav will assume control in 2022. If approved by regulators, Zaslav may be able to hear an unexpected but consistent message from the current executive team: Give WarnerMedia a new name.

HBO Max is WarnerMedia’s most popular streaming product. The product performed admirably after a slow start. AT&T, which still owns WarnerMedia, said ThursdayThe company expects it to be in the upper range of its HBO Max/HBO global subscription target of 70 to 73 millions subscribers by the year’s end. It’s still significantly lower than Disney+ With 116 Million subscribers, HBO Max now has more than a million. ViacomCBSParamount+ by, NBCUniversalDisney’s Hulu,’s Peacock’ or’s Peacock. WarnerMedia’s ad-free HBO Max costs $14.99, and brings in more income than any streaming company for every signup.

It’s possible that Zaslav will keep the name despite HBO Max’s success. It is possible that Zaslav will add Discovery’s reality programming to the service rather than just bundling Discovery+ to HBO Max. He would have a great opportunity to rebrand this service to appeal to a wider audience.

According to sources familiar with the matter, several WarnerMedia executives including Jason Kilar (outgoing CEO) have requested that the name be changed. People who spoke on behalf of the WarnerMedia executives asked to remain anonymous because discussions were confidential. Kilar did not respond to this report.

CNBC reported in December that there have been internal WarnerMedia discussions to change the name.Because of this, the talks didn’t result in any changes. AT&TAccording to the people, CEO John Stankey wanted HBO Max to continue.

Stankey, Bob Greenblatt, former WarnerMedia chairman, and Kilar, were the ones who chose to name the streaming service HBO Max in order to show HBO’s programs and preserve the brand and convey that HBO Max was a quality service. had “so much moreThe premium network has more to offer than its content. HBO Max also includes Warner Bros. movies, cable and broadcast hit shows like “Friends”, “South Park,” original programming and non-HBO content.

But a number of WarnerMedia executives found the HBO Max name confusing — and still do.

One executive, who left WarnerMedia last year said that it sounds like a supersized HBO. It’s not clear how the new product is different to HBO, unless you are familiar with it. It was a typical AT&T decision.”

The confusion was magnified by the fact that HBO Go and HBO Now were still available as HBO-only streaming services. These were the b. names no longer exist.

Kilar, along with others, considered the possibility of calling the service something that included “Warner” as the initials to demonstrate the fact that the service was not just HBO. People familiar with the subject told CNBC in December.

At launch HBO Max featured mostly HBO programming. However, Kilar’s decision in this year to upload all Warner Bros. original films onto the service the day after they were released made HBO’s branding less relevant. The original hit “The Other Two,” which is a rebooted of “Gossip Girl”, and “Titans”, a DC Comics come-of-age drama, have been a huge success. Neither of these shows came from HBO.

HBO Max includes many other features. children’s programmingWhile HBO is well-known for producing high quality comedies and dramas,. Discovery Originals, programming from Animal Planet and Food Network will help the channel move away from HBO.

It’s our cable package. One current WarnerMedia executive stated that HBO should be a sub-brand for a newly renamed cable service. It is possible to fix this. David [Zaslav]You will be able to correct it.”

Discovery executives cannot discuss the future with WarnerMedia until they approve the deal. Zaslav isn’t clear if Zaslav plans to combine Discovery’s content and HBO Max, or keep the two separate. It wouldn’t mark the first time that a streaming service has changed the brand name after it launches. After merging Viacom and CBS, ViacomCBS transformed the streaming service CBS All Access into Paramount+.

Zaslav could decide that a name-change is too risky for a company already plagued by confusion. However, investors will pressure the company to achieve its goals. $3 billion in cost synergies.It is easy to reduce costs by allowing the services to be hosted on the same platform.

Executives from AT&T and Discovery are optimistic the deal will be approved in the first half of 2022.

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