Discovery has more than $50 billion of debt on its balance sheet, and its overall value as a company has sunk this year as Wall Street investors have lost a bit of faith in the long-term profitability of streaming. At the same time, there are folks within HBO proper who believe, now more than ever, their iconic brand needs to be separated from such a big tent streamer. With Homicide Hunter and Who the (Bleep) Did I Marry? soon to live next to The Sopranos and Succession, the thinking is the platform needs a name that doesn’t scare off heartland audiences who want (reality) TV, not HBO. Specifically, subscribers will see a lot more programming from networks such as TLC, HGTV, ID, and the Discovery Channel as WBD essentially shuts down Discovery+ (which costs $5 a month) and merges it with what we now know as HBO Max (starting price $10 per month, though most folks pay $15).

That’s partially because, after spending 2022 taking content off its signature streamer, WBD plans to actually start expanding the platform’s offering in 2023. But while nothing is official, the name “HBO Max” is very likely going to change in 2023. Discovery isn’t getting out of the streaming game, and there will continue to be a service that blends everything that airs on HBO’s cable network with a broader mix of content from the WBD library (everything from Friends to Casablanca). First of all: Is HBO Max going away? What is happening?