New streaming app to ‘Max’ programming from HBO, Discovery

Discovery unveiled a streaming service Wednesday combining iconic HBO programming such as “The Sopranos” with a mix of unscripted TV series in a push to reap more subscribers from what so far has been a muddled media merger. That’s even as all that programming is made available within the new Max app, which will be marketed with the tagline “The One To Watch.” The transition comes a year after the completion of a roughly $43 billion deal that spun off the AT&T’s WarnerMedia Division that includes HBO, CNN and TBS into Discovery, whose stable includes the TLC, HGTV, Magnolia and Food networks. Discover CEO David Zaslav envisioned it creating “the best media company in the world” backed by a vast library of movies, TV series, documentaries and children’s programming. Given that the Max app will bring more pedestrian programming from the Discovery networks alongside the boundary-breaking series that have been HBO’s hallmark, Warner Bros. Discovery executives periodically emphasized HBO would remain the same groundbreaking network that recently caused a stir with the series “The Last of Us,” and is currently making waves with the final season of “Succession.” Toward that end, the company said it would be announcing another offshoot of its most watched series, “Game of Thrones,” and is developing a new live-action “Harry Potter” series featuring a different cast from the popular film franchise based on the books by J.K. Rowling.