It started as HBO Portugal and in March 2022 it became HBO Max. Now, on May 21, it completely drops the three main letters of the brand. That day, the streaming platform becomes simply Max, bringing together content from HBO Max, Discovery+ and Eurosport in one place.

In Lisbon, this Tuesday, May 7, participants from various areas met (from the executive vice president, Alessandro Araimo, to the vice president of programming and acquisitions, Joana Silva, including the director Leonel Vieira, the actress Rita Pereira and the surfer Garrett McNamara. ) to explain exactly everything that changes. Let’s start from the beginning.

A new application?

On Tuesday, May 21 (or from that date), when you open the HBO Max application on your cell phone, you will be asked to download a new application, in this case from Max for those who usually access online, through a computer. or tablet, the redirection will be automatic.

Is profile data maintained?

Login to the platform will be done with existing data, as well as billing. When migrating information, the new platform will also save old profiles, preferences and viewing lists, for example.

What are the prices?

There are two plans available. Standard costs €7.99 per month and guarantees that the content, with Full HD resolution, can be viewed on two devices at the same time. To view it offline, 30 downloads can be made. The Premium option costs €11.99 per month and content can be streamed on four devices simultaneously. The image is Full HD or 4K and the sound is Dolby Atmos, when available. The number of downloads amounts to 100. In none of the cases will there be advertising.

Being able to be added to any of these plans, the Sports Complement now appears. It costs €5 per month and gives access to sporting events, such as the Olympic Games, the Roland Garros and US Open tennis tournaments, cycling events and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Eurosport channels 1 and 2 are also available in streaming. This plugin can be viewed simultaneously on two devices.

Anyone who has a promotional subscription will continue with the same conditions.

Why change the name?

The strategy is global; In the US, the transition has already lasted nine months. HBO stopped having only HBO content a long time ago and therefore needed to standardize. “It is a new product, a new platform, but based on a legacy,” explained Alessandro Araimo, executive vice president and general director in Portugal, Spain and Italy.

The catalog includes productions from the labels HBO Originals, Max Originals, Warner Bros., DC Universe, Discovery, TLC, Cartoon Network and Eurosport, for example.

Coming?

From series to movies, from fiction to documentaries, from cooking shows to auction content, including children’s and sports programming, there is room for everything. In addition to having films like Dune: Part Two either beetle juice beetle juiceOne of the big bets is to take viewers’ favorite brands or characters and explore their respective universe even further. Duna, the prophecy It will be a prequel set ten thousand years before the action of the films, Welcome to Derry: will venture into the intricacies of Stephen King’s imagination and all seven Harry Potter films will be turned into a series, executive produced by JK Rowling.

We must not forget the date of the second season of Dragon Housethe prequel to The war of thrones which returns on June 17. The Penguinfocused on the Batman villain, premieres at the end of the year and is in production the last of us Is The white lotus.

And the Portuguese content?

“We want Max to be a Portuguese house,” guaranteed Joana Silva, vice president of programming and acquisitions. “In the last two or three months we have added more than 100 hours to the programming.” As for 100% national productions, there is nothing concrete yet. “We have been studying the pre-acquisitions part for one or two years. “We want to do things gradually.”

There’s no release date yet, but there are two on the way. suspense novelsboth with the collaboration of RTP. Lightwith Albano Jerónimo, and Faváritx, by Leonel Vieira. This latest project, which is a Portuguese and Spanish co-production, has been filming for “three weeks on the island of Menorca,” says the director and producer. The story focuses “apparently on a serial killer that operates outside the axis of the big cities.”

On this side of the border, filming takes place in Porto and its surroundings. The Portuguese cast includes Pêpê Rapazote (“who is going to be a narco, for a change,” jokes Leonel Vieira), Benedita Pereira, Carolina Carvalho, Adriano Luz and João Baptista.

With Portuguese participation, a soap opera series will also debut, as those responsible for Max describe it, called Mrs. Beja and based on the books Doña Beja: The Sorceress of Araxáby Thomas Othon Leonardos, and Doña Beja’s life in flower, by Agrippa Vasconcelos. “There are 40 chapters about feminism, sexuality and emancipation, filmed in the state of Rio de Janeiro,” summarizes actress Rita Pereira, who plays Siá Boa, daughter of “a Portuguese father and an indigenous mother.”

In post-production is the third season of a documentary series that has achieved significant success and has captured the attention even of those who do not like surfing. The great wave of Nazaré He began by telling how Garrett McNamara ended up in that Portuguese location with monster waves. According to him, “the third season has new characters, new locations and is deeper.” “Nothing is ever filmed twice,” said the Internet user in the presentation. The episodes will include a sad and unprecedented event for giant wave surfers: the death of Márcio Freire, in Praia do Norte, in January 2023.

Live broadcast?

The litmus test will be the Olympic Games, which begin on July 26 in Paris, France. All sporting events will be broadcast live on the same platform. The viewer’s only task is to choose which one to watch.

“It is an improvement in the way we see sport,” guaranteed Luís Piçarra, production director of Eurosport. “Streaming has been based on things recorded, over time. Here, the transition to live makes the difference. The Olympic Games will have 38 broadcast locations, which would be impossible to fit on two channels [Eurosport].”

In practice, by opening the Max application or website, it will be possible to choose between all the points where tests are carried out and jump from one to another, if there is more than one interest. In addition, a special label will be created for Portuguese athletes, which means that, every morning, the application will have an alert of the events and schedules of those same athletes.

Live broadcasts will also be valid for tennis tournaments, such as Roland Garros; cycling events, such as La Vuelta; or motor sports events, such as the 24h of Le Mans.

The live offer seems to be the big news and a path that streaming platforms are trying. “The growing commitment will be made based on consumer interest,” said Alessandro Araimo. If the future is not this, Max will have the capacity and, above all, the speed to reinvent himself.