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The streamlining continues over at Warner Bros. Discovery, which recently announced it will split into two separate entities for “streaming and content production” and “traditional television.” Under the leadership of David Zaslav, WB has gained a bit of a reputation for slashing, burning, and disappearing content, so it won’t come as a great surprise that it’s shuttering a few of its multiplex linear channels, per The Wrap. Come August, HBO Family, ThrillerMax, MovieMax, and OuterMax will be no more. Find your reruns elsewhere!
The news comes via a message to customers from Spectrum. “At Spectrum, we are committed to providing you with exceptional service and want to alert you of changes before they happen. Effective on or after August 15, 2025, HBO Family, ThrillerMax, MovieMax, & OuterMax will cease programming and will no longer be available,” the notice read (via The Wrap). Each channel has its own niche: OuterMax does science fiction, horror, and fantasy films; MovieMax plays films aimed at the 18-34 demo; ThrillerMax does horror, mystery, suspense, and thrillers; and HBO Family does kids’ programming like “Sesame Street” (which recently found a new home at Netflix).
The change comes, obviously, amid WB trying to manage its debt and get ahead in the streaming era. With that said, it also comes as traditional television is fighting extinction (which is not necessarily great news for the new WB company focusing on traditional television). According to Variety, these channels have unsurprisingly seen major viewership declines in recent years. People are just more inclined to pick a movie to watch than flip through channels for random re-runs, a lost art of the streaming era. Still some of the company’s linear channels persist (for now), including HBO2, HBO Signature, HBO Comedy, HBO Zone and HBO Latino, and Cinemax’s MoreMax, ActionMax, 5 Star Max and Cinemáx.
