May 14 (Reuters) - Warner Bros Discovery ( WBD ) is

hitting rewind on Max's branding, bringing back the HBO name it

dropped from the streaming service two years ago.

The company will rebrand its streaming platform as HBO Max

this summer, betting that the iconic brand's global reputation

will drive subscriber growth as it expands internationally.

The return to HBO Max also marks an "implicit promise" by

the company to deliver unique and premium content, Warner Bros

Discovery ( WBD ) said on Wednesday. Known for its high-end programmes,

HBO is home to some of the most popular, critically-acclaimed

series including "Game of Thrones", "The Sopranos" and "True

Detective."

"Today, we are bringing back HBO, the brand that represents

the highest quality in media, to further accelerate that growth

in the years ahead," CEO David Zaslav said on Wednesday.

Warner Bros Discovery's ( WBD ) decision to drop HBO from HBO Max in

2023 followed its move to merge its HBO dramas and Warner Bros'

content across top franchises like "Harry Potter" and DC's

"Batman" with the content library from Discovery - a big chunk

of which spans food, home and lifestyle content.

The goal was to offer a more broadly appealing consumer

product and to help retain viewers who typically bought a

subscription to HBO Max to watch a show and cancel after the

finale.

But it saw strong backlash from audiences.

Even Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of streaming industry leader

Netflix ( NFLX ), called the move a surprise. "I would have

never guessed HBO would have gone away. They put all that effort

into one thing that they can tell the consumer - it should be

HBO," he said in an interview with Variety earlier this year.

(Reporting by Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil

D'Silva)