Half a Year Since Debut, Persistent Issues Persist with HBO Max
Rewritten Article:
Are We All Losing Our Minds Trying to Navigate HBO Max?
Let's cut to the chase: What the frick is going on with the content discovery on HBO Max?
Normally, major streamers are always tweaking their discovery guide to help us locate the hottest stuff on their platforms, whether it's licensed content, originals, or trending titles. Think of Netflix, where the top section usually covers new releases, followed by popular, trending, and previously watched titles to let you pick up from where you left off, then categorizing content by genre, with top picks and originals spread in between. Not perfect, but it makes sense. But hey, HBO Max? It's a head-scratcher.
A quick peek at the service's homepage on Monday just confirmed my suspicions for months - HBO Max's discovery system blows goats. The "for you" section suggested two '90s series, a lousy Christmas-themed rom-com from last year, and Big Bang Theory – a collection of suggestions that doesn't align with my interests (and, ironically, it missed some of my recently viewed titles in the "continue watching" section too!).
Moreover, you'd expect a company dropping its complete 2021 movie roster on this platform to step up its game when it comes to promoting its biggest titles. Just days after releasing Wonder Woman 1984, there was no significant promotion for me beyond the "recently added" and "popular movies" sections – come on, now! Even though I'd already seen 1984, a Gal Gadot-curated watchlist showed up halfway down the page instead. Why not use that dedicated space to promote the movie itself? After all, viewership of the title has already fast-tracked a third Wonder Woman film!
Also, the service tends to downplay or bury non-HBO titles from sources like Studio Ghibli and Adult Swim. Finding titles from these non-HBO properties means seeking them out intentionally – that's like telling a fish to climb a tree! And while I'm complaining, the page looked the same at launch as it does now, which leaves me wondering: What's even the point of HBO Max if everything else is an afterthought? Why am I stuck watching mediocre and outdated licensed titles instead of some of the premier films and series exclusive to the platform?
I don't know about you, but I'm struggling to figure out how to fix HBO Max's awful recommendation system. Bringing back the top-of-page carousel could be a good start, and maybe some strategic thinking about how combining HBO content with all of WarnerMedia's extra goodies might appear from a branding standpoint would help. Then again, competitors like Hulu feature the same variety offered by HBO Max's mountain of content and seem to handle it better, given their massive libraries.
To be honest, it's been more than half a year since HBO Max launched, and it still seems to have zero clue about what it wants to be. If it wants to continue competing with the mess of other streaming services vying for our attention, it'll need to get a move on and figure itself out, or else we might all just give up and watch reruns of Friends forever.
- The tech industry could learn from HBO's curated film list by WarnerMedia executive Gal Gadot, as it trended just days after the release of Wonder Woman 1984, despite a lackluster promotion strategy by HBO Max.
- In the future, it's essential for streaming services like HBO Max to prioritize their complete tech offerings, such as movies and shows, by strategically promoting their most popular properties to maintain viewer engagement and stay competitive.
- HBO Max's current recommendation system seems rooted in the past, lacking the intuitive properties that help users navigate top-tier streaming services to discover the most compelling content.
- As we navigate the future of TV and film, streaming services should focus on creating user-friendly, curated experiences that cater to a wide audience, avoiding the pitfalls of outdated tech and offerings like HBO Max's, which fall short of the mark.
