HBO Max To Be Renamed Max From May 23, Unveils New Content And More

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“This is our time. This is our chance,” Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav said today in his livestream intro for the company’s unveiling of Max, its rebranded streaming service that goes live May 23. “This is our rendezvous with destiny.”

Max will be the streaming destination for Max and HBO originals, Warner Bros. films, the DC universe, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and kids content, along with programming across food, home, reality, lifestyle and documentaries from leading brands including HGTV, Food Network, Discovery Channel, TLC, ID and more.

Calling WBD “the greatest storytelling company on Earth” and the biggest and most successful creator of content, Zaslav said Max is “home to shows that have a supersized effect on people an culture,” singling out The Last of Us, The White Lotus, Succession and Euphoria.

Billing Max as “the one to watch for every mood and every moment,” the service’s three-tier pricing also was announced: $9.99 a month/$99 a year for ad-supported tier Max Ad Light; $15.99/$149.99 for Max Ad Free, which offers two concurrent streams; and $19.99/$199.99 for Max Ultimate Ad Free, up to four concurrent streams.

“This new brand signals an important change from two narrower products — HBO Max and Discovery+ — to our broader content offering and consumer proposition,” JB Perrette, WBD’s President & CEO of Global Streaming & Games, said during the presentation. “While each product offered something for some people, Max will have a broad array of quality choices for everybody.”

Among the programming highlights discussed today:

• Max original Harry Potter series, a faithful adaptation of the beloved original book series by J.K. Rowling, who will serve as executive producer;
Max original comedy series derived from The Big Bang Theory;
• HBO original Game of Thrones prequel A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight;
Max original drama series based on The Conjuring films;
• Magnolia Network’s Fixer Upper: The Hotel;
Discovery Channel’s Survive the Raft;
Max original Peter & the Wolf short film from U2’s Bono;
• Adult Swim’s Rick and Morty: The Anime;
Investigation Discovery’s Lost Women of Highway 20;
• Cartoon Network’s Tiny Toons Looniversity; and
• TLC’s Love & Translation

Max also provided first looks today at upcoming titles including:

• The Penguin starring Colin Farrell
• HBO Original drama series The Sympathizer, an espionage thriller and cross-culture satire based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel;
• HBO Original limited series True Detective: Night Country, starring Jodie Foster and Kali Reis
• HBO Original limited series The Regime, starring Kate Winslet (retitled from The Palace);
• Max Original six-part docuseries SmartLess: On the Road, following Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, and Sean Hayes as they take viewers on an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the sold-out live tour of their podcast
• Max Original kids series Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai
• HGTV’s four-part Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge hosted by Ashley Graham.

Also making announcements during WBD’s streaming day were Casey Bloys, Chairman and CEO of HBO and Max Content, and HBO SVP Programming Kathleen McCaffrey.

“Our incredible team has been hard at work taking the best of both legacy technology platforms to deliver a product that works much better,” said Perrette. “We’re confident that all these enhancements will deliver a stronger experience for our customers, which will drive more engagement, help enhance retention, and improve customer satisfaction, which in turn will help us continue to scale.”

Here are some highlights of Max product features:

Premium Video Playback. A new video playback experience will deliver smooth and cinematic video to users, wherever and however they prefer to watch. Whether binging their favorites, watching offline on-the-go, or tuning in on Sunday nights for the latest episode of Succession, users can count on seamlessly diving into their preferred worlds.

Personalization. Max will expand personalization beyond just the home page, offering a differentiated and high-performing experience for every user across the whole service.  By significantly increasing our investment in machine learning while maintaining an editorial voice, Max will deliver a unique human and machine approach that will help surface the best content for our users.

More Prominent Kids Experience. At launch, Max will introduce a default kids profile for new subscribers along with accompanying parental controls. Parents can choose to customize settings and select to limit content for the kids profile by ratings: little kids (tv-y), big kids (tv-y7, tvy7-fv), big kids plus (tv-g, g), preteens (tv-pg/pg), or teens (tv-14, pg-13). Parents will also have the ability to set individual profile PINs to lock access to their adult profiles, as well as a parent code to lock their children inside of the Max kids experience.

Simplified Navigation. Max works harder so viewers don’t have to. Streamlined categories, improved content details pages, shortcuts, dedicated brand hubs and thematic content rails, make exploring the app and discovering new interests easier. The updated design coupled with a better personalization engine will help consumers quickly find and discover the best of what they are looking for.

4K UHD. The Ultimate Ad-Free tier of Max will have an expanded catalog of content available in 4K UHD including key programming such as Game of Thrones, The Last of Us, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, The Dark Knight Trilogy and more. All Warner Bros. movies released this year and going forward will also be available in 4K UHD when they arrive on Max following their theatrical windows.

Newly Rebranded Max Streaming Service Unveils New Content For Kids And Families

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Warner Bros. Discovery disappointed the children’s TV industry last year when it pulled a number of shows from HBO Max, signaling an exit from this part of the business.

However, now, with the launch of the rebranded Max service, the company behind the Looney Tunes and Hanna-Barbera libraries is returning strong to the sector and admitting that it was ostensibly technical difficulties that caused some of its problems for younger folk.

“We sit on the best library of IP for kids content [compared] to anyone so we’re not only going to reboot a lot of what we already have in our library but we’re also going to make new [shows],” said Kathleen Finch, Chairman and Chief Content Officer, Warner Bros. Discovery’s U.S. Networks Group

Finch revealed three new kids projects as part of the Max launch: Peter and the Wolf, a short film from Bono and Gavin Friday, Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai, which launches on May 23, and Tiny Toons Looniversity.

She also added, “We’ve got all kinds of projects… in the works. It’s a way for us to really target the kids market in a way that that HBO hasn’t been able to because… HBO is not a kid friendly brand, necessarily, even though Warner Bros. has some of the best IP in the business.”

David Zaslav, President and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, seconded this. He pointed out that parents were unlikely to tell their babysitter to turn on HBO Max to sate their children and the service, known for airing series such as The Sopranos and The Wire, didn’t have the requisite parental controls.

"We have great kids content from Sesame Street to Harry Potter to Looney Tunes, Hanna-Barbera and all the original content that Kathleen’s team produces Cartoon Network. But there wasn’t an entry point. So, when anybody goes to Max on [launch] day, they will wake up and there will be a kids hub and right away it will be kid friendly. And we never we didn’t even have the parental

JB Perrette, President and CEO of Global Streaming and International at Warner Bros. Discovery, added that kids hasn’t “met its true potential” on the old HBO Max service.

“Our leading kids brands like Cartoon Network and Boomerang, bolstered by content from DC, Wizarding World, Hanna Barbera and Looney Tunes used to get double digit shares with 2 to 11 linear audiences [but] in streaming that has virtually disappeared even though all the great content and franchises as are still here. Max will better curate our rich history of amazing animation, seminal children’s television and blockbusters the whole family can enjoy as well as new product features.”

HBO Max did have Sesame Street, with new seasons running on the service through 2025.

However, one of the problems that Casey Bloys, Chairman and CEO of HBO and Max Content, found was that it didn’t surround it with other similar types of programming.

“We had Sesame Street on HBO, which is one of the greatest brands in kids. One of the problems was we didn’t surround it with anything else. So, [this solves] part of the problem. One of the benefits here is we don’t have to go figure out how are we going to get a kids business up and running. We have the expertise in house doing so,” Bloys added.

Paramount Is Moving Around A Number Of Its Unscripted Shows From VH1 To MTV

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VH1 series including Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta, Couples Retreat and Caught In The Act: Unfaithful are moving to MTV.

The company said it was looking to find new audiences for these shows, which are all being produced by Lashan Browning’s Antoinette Media, which Paramount recently invested in. The move comes as it is exploring a sale of BET Media Group, which now includes VH1, meaning that it will keep a number of its biggest titles on its other network.

The biggest move involves Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta, which is going in to its 11th season. It premiered on VH1 in 2012.

Season 11, which will air this summer, is being rebooted and will follow a more “docu approach to storytelling” as it documents the lives of women who have built their empires in Atlanta.

The series is now produced by MTV Entertainment Studios and Antoinette Media, which the company recently invested in and is exec produced by Sitarah Pendelton and Jubba Seyyid for MTV Entertainment Studios and Lashan Browning, Donna Edge-Rachell, Paris Bauldwin, Daniel Wiener, Alissa Horowitz, Mimi Adams, Gavin Lee Jones, and John Crenny for Antoinette Media.

“On the heels of launching Antoinette Media with Lashan Browning, we’re thrilled to continue fueling our robust unscripted slate of hits on MTV and introduce new audiences to the cultural phenomenon Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta as well as fan favorites like Couples Retreat and Caught in the Act: Unfaithful,” said Nina L. Diaz, Chief Creative Officer and President of Content, Showtime and MTV Entertainment Studios.

Kicking off the block later in the year is Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta “Run it Back”, a clip-show, where cast members of the reality show rewatch moments from the first season of Atlanta and share behind the scenes stories.

It will be followed by MTV Couples Retreat, which has previously run for two seasons as VH1 Couples Retreat. The series follows couples attending a retreat, who are putting all of their chips on the table in Vegas, and they will be forced out of their comfort zones to rediscover each other with the help of unconventional, high-octane guest experts. This includes ziplining through the Vegas Strip, survivalist training in the wilderness with an expert ninja survivalist, trapezing with former Cirque du Soleil performers, to herding cattle and untamed bulls.

MTV Couples Retreat is produced by MTV Entertainment Studios and Antoinette Media and exec produced by Sitarah Pendelton- Eaglin and Jubba Seyyid for MTV Entertainment Studios and Lashan Browning, Donna Edge-Rachell, Paris Bauldwin, Daniel Wiener, Mimi Adams, Michael Carrozza, Gavin Lee Jones, Alissa Horowitz, and Michelle Kongkasuwan for Antoinette Media.

Finally, also launching in the year is the second season of Caught in the Act: Unfaithful, which also debuted on VH1. The show follows host Tami Roman as she continues to help suspicious lovers catch their cheating partners in the act. Once the investigation is complete, the suspicious lover can choose to team up with their partner’s other lover or take them both down in an undercover ambush.

Caught in the Act: Unfaithful is executive produced by Sitarah Pendelton-Eaglin, Jennifer Aguirre, and Executive in Charge of production Liz Kim for MTV. Lashan Browning, Donna Edge-Rachell, Alissa Horowitz, Daniel Wiener, Maricarmen Lopez, and Rich Allen are executive producers for Antoinette Media. Tami Roman also serves as consulting producer.

First Glimpse Into The New Character Expected On Daai Crazy Somer Season 2

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Famous actor Olgun Toker managed to impress a large audience with the character of Burak Ersoylu in the series “Arıza” in the winter season. The actor portrayed a psychopathic character so well that the viewers of the series could even believe that he really was that person.

One of the names who left in the first season of the Daai Crazy Somer (Son Yaz) was Olgun Toker, who gave life to the character of Gökhan Şen…Toker showed a strong character acting in Son Yaz with his villain character, just like in the Arıza. Gokhan, who confronted Akgün, acted by Alperen Duymaz, and gave him great difficulties, spread evil…

In the second season of the Daai Crazy Somer, another character is coming, who will shake the story again. The name that will give life to this character has also emerged. Onur Bay, who has played the role of Tekin in the TV series Arka Sokaklar since the age of 9, became the new transfer of the series.

Onur Bay left Arka Sokaklar in June to play new roles. Everyone was surprised when it turned out that the actor’s new series was also Son Yaz.

It has been revealed that Onur Bay will come to the story with a character who will face and compete with Akgün, brought to life by Alperen Duymaz in the new season.

Gökhan was a bad guy and Akgün was very worn out. However, the new character will be a much more challenging person and will stand against Akgün. Onur Bay and Alperen Duymaz scenes will also be talked about a lot in the new season.

Credits: Series Turkish

Recap To The Past: Fetch! With Ruff Ruffman Was Removed From PBS Kids Lineup Ahead Of It's Linear Debut On MultiChoice's DStv

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Fetch! With Ruff Ruffman was an educational game show with featured animated host Ruff Ruffman alongside real kids facing real challenges. The kids would do random tasks even play games mostly in the maths and sciences in order to win prizes.

The show was an instant hit with audiences and received critical acclaim. The New York Times praised the series, writing "The show’s creators have written in all the sarcasm and amazingness of a more sophisticated and harder-edged show, but not in a way that condones such behavior.

The series ran for five seasons and 100 episodes from May 29, 2006, to November 4, 2010, on the adult oriented, PBS. Prior to its demise, the series recieved an Emmy for Best Original Song which too is named after the program.

During its run, PBS Kids was a programming block hence the PBS. No 24 hour kids channel was available until at least 2017 and MultiChoice bundled Fetch! alongside various other content from the PBS brand in 2018 on the DStv app under the tile PBS Kids - experimental.

In May 2019, MultiChoice in partnership with PBS extended the agreement for the PBS Kids channel giving more consumers access to #1 trusted for educational content with shows like Arthur, Pinkalicious And Peterrific, Time Warp Trio and Postcards From Buster.

As seen through various promos and ads, we got to see a variety of programs some of which still remain to be unseen on the channel e.g. Super Why, Splash & Bubbles and Ready Jet Go. Of course within these adverts, Fetch! With Ruff Ruffman isn't credited any of them.

Not only that it was removed from 24/7 channel and other shows which were seen on the DStv app came as a double bill amidst the removal which begs the question as to why such a popular show would get screwed over in such a manner.

In a Fetch! With Ruffman Fan Page, it was revealed PBS Kids lost rights to the program and this dated back the same year it was slotted on the DStv app. Taking that to consideration, it's likely that PBS had wanted to remove the program from the DStv app much earlier but couldn't.

So they were only able to do so once the year long agreement was expired and PBS Kids not taking to account that not everyone cares or can afford to use the DStv app removed Postcards From Buster before it could even wrap production for those who couldn't see it.

As for Fetch!, although it can no longer be seen on PBS Kids it can however be viewable on other platforms for starters there's YouTube. I mean a lot of PBS Kids content is viewed freely on that platform.

Recap To The Year: Days Of Our Lives Might Be Making It's Highly Anticipated Comeback On Showmax

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In 2022, eMedia Investments in an attempt to boost their local offering halt distribution of Days Of Our Lives on e.tv after 5 years. Prior to that, SABC 3 held rights to the NBC soap currently in its 56th season and Vodacom's streaming service RED before it's untimely demise.

Last month, MultiChoice sold 30% of their stake in Showmax to Comcast's Sky and NBCUniversal which will bring some of the world's best content and technology to streaming customers across MultiChoice’s 50-market footprint in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Days Of Our Lives is eyed as one of the most anticipated shows for the new Showmax streaming service. After ending its 57 year run on NBC, the soap has bolstered it's offering with a spinoff titled Beyond Salem alongside a holiday film titled A Very Salem Christmas.

Both of which alongside the ongoing soap have yet to be viewed in Africa unless browsing torrent sites. Although, selected content from Peacock would be added to Showmax. Businesses often prioritise their most valuable assets or in this scenario, Days Of Our Lives.

Similar to Days Of Our Lives move from NBC to Peacock, the same outcome is expected for consumers in the African market leaving millions of households without access to the soap. If they were to add it on DStv my guess would be M-Net or Telemundo.

Details of the new Peacock streaming service

The streaming service will combine MultiChoice’s growing investment in local content with international content licensed from NBCUniversal and Sky, third-party content from HBO, Warner Brothers International, Sony and others, as well as live English Premier League (EPL) soccer matches. “The partnership will also provide access to all the best African content, such as Showmax Originals and local content from MultiChoice’s proprietary channels, including Mzansi Magic, Africa Magic and Maisha Magic.”

NBCUniversal and Sky will provide ongoing support through the licensing of both technology and content, the partners highlighted.

They will form the new Showmax group, which will be 70 percent owned by MultiChoice and 30 percent owned by NBCUniversal. “It will build on Showmax’s success to date and aim to create the leading streaming service in Africa,” the companies said. “Powered by Peacock’s leading, globally-scaled technology, Showmax subscribers will have access to an extensive premium content portfolio, bringing African audiences the best of local and international programming.”

Afrikaans Voice Actors For Jy Is My Seun

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Donovan Pietersen as Murat
Reginald Hufkie as Hasan
Rina Nienaber as Melek
Susan Coetzer as Asiye Karasu
Eddie De Jager as Ali Kemal
Jakkie Groenewald as Osman
Lizelle Pike as Sule
Natasha Jacobs as Emine
Mari Molefe Van Heerden as Asye Sahin
Claudia Joens as Akca Yilmaz

Source: Insidus Plus

Afrikaans Voice Actors For Hart Van Goud

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• Nehir (Biran Damla Yilmaz) voiced by Kyla Jansen
• Nazim (Feyyaz Duman) voiced by Keenan Herman
• Zerrin (Sumru Yavrucuk) voiced by Amor Tredoux
• Tarik (Burak Yörük) voiced by Conradie van Heerden
• Zahra (Iman Casablanca) voiced by Hannah Borthwick
• Ismet (Mesut Yilmaz) voiced by Wian Zeeman
• Ekrem (Tuna Orhan) voiced by Christo Snyman
• Ibrahim (Batuhan Bozkurt Yüzgüleç) voiced by Jumaine Hansen
• Halil (Samil Kafkas) voiced by Gordon van der Spuy
• Fulya (Irem Tuncer) voiced by Anoecha Kruger
• Bahar (Gizem Karaca) voiced by Emma Kotze
• Tulay (Sabriye Kara) voiced by Susanne Beyers
• Azra (Pinar Akin) voiced by Shannon Williams
• Halit (Samil Kafkas) voiced by Gordon van der Spuy

Source: Insidus Plus

UFC Parent Company Endeavor Set To Buy WWE

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Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Entertainment is in advanced talks to be sold to Ari Emanuel's Endeavor Group, the parent company of UFC, according to people familiar with the matter.

A deal could be announced as soon as today. UFC and WWE are expected to form a new publicly traded company as part of the agreement, according to the people, who declined to be named due to the confidential nature of the discussions.

Endeavor is slated to own 51% of the new combat sports and entertainment company, while WWE shareholders would get 49%, according to the people. The Endeavor deal gives WWE an enterprise value of $9.3 billion, they said.

Emanuel is expected to act as chief executive of both Endeavor and the new company. McMahon, likewise, is expected to be executive chairman, while Endeavor President Mark Shapiro will also work in the same role at the new company. Dana White will remain as president of UFC, while WWE CEO Nick Khan will serve as president of the wrestling business.

The development comes during the same weekend WWE hosts its flagship live event, WrestleMania, in California. The company has spent the past several months looking for a buyer. McMahon returned to the company as chairman in January to oversee the process. Shares of WWE are up more than 33% so far this year, giving it a market value of more than $6.79 billion.

The deal will effectively end WWE's decades-old status as a family-run business. McMahon's father founded WWE in its original incarnation during the middle of the 20th century, and McMahon is the controlling shareholder in the company. McMahon bought the company from his father in 1982. Since then, the company has grown into a global phenomenon, spawing stars suck as Hulk Hogan, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Dave Bautista and John Cena.

McMahon, 77, retired from the company in July following a string of revelations that he paid several women millions of dollars over the years to keep them quiet about alleged affairs and misconduct. His daughter, Stephanie McMahon, became co-CEO alongside Khan. Paul Levesque, who's both Stephanie McMahon's husband and the wrestler known as Triple H, took over creative duties from Vince McMahon.

When Vince McMahon came back in January, Stephanie McMahon stepped down and Khan fully assumed the CEO role. The elder McMahon recently locked in a two-year employment contract, according to a securities filing.

Khan in recent weeks has been making the media rounds to discuss the potential sale. He told CNBC's Morgan Brennan on Thursday that it's been a robust sale process, drawing many interested buyers.

WWE brings with it a robust media and live events business, along with its decades worth of intellectual property. The company generated $1.29 billion in revenue last year, driven mainly by its $1 billion media unit.

UFC has paid off for Endeavor. Last year, the MMA league helped Endeavor's sports business make $1.3 billion in revenue. Endeavor's market cap stood at about $10.53 billion as of Friday's close. The Endeavor-WWE deal values UFC at more than $12 billion.

WWE, at least at a glance, would also fit well with the cultures at Endeavor and UFC. McMahon has a brash public persona, making him an apparently good match for Emanuel and White, who are also known for their outsized personalities.

White, like McMahon, is no stranger to scandal, either. Earlier this year, video emerged showing the UFC boss slapping his wife during a public argument at a New Year's Eve party in Mexico. White apologized.