As part of the merger activities around the formation of Warner Bros. Discovery, we saw their flagship streamer, then HBO Max, rebrand to Max for domestic audiences. Surprisingly, the company chose to keep its alternate streaming platform, Discovery+, available as a standalone package, although some Discovery+ programming is now also made available through the wider Max banner as well. Many have been eagerly awaiting Max’s promised rollout to the European market- and we finally have launch dates! Blake & Wang P.A. entertainment lawyer, Brandon Blake, has all the news.
Launch Date Announced
We now know that Max will launch for Central and Eastern Europe, Iberia, and the Nordics as of May 21, 2024. Belgium, France, Poland, and the Netherlands will follow shortly after. This rollout seems timed to coincide with the June 17 Season 2 premiere of House of the Dragon, the Game of Thrones spin-off, and possibly Max’s most valuable property currently. HBO Max is already on offer in these territories. This will bring Max’s total countries to 25 in Europe, and 65 globally since its rebranded launch in the US in May 2023. So far, we don’t know what its initial pricing will be.
HBO Max will subsequently be phased out of European territories. Belgium and France, however, are completely new territory launches, the first in over 2 years for the streamer. In the Netherlands and Belgium, it will retain the HBO Max name.
Improved Add-Ons
Max is likely also hoping that its exclusive live coverage of the upcoming Paris Olympic Games will be a drawcard for new subscribers. Max offers an expanded content offering compared to the ‘original’ HBO Max, including key releases like the Barbie movie and the hit series The Last of Us and White Lotus.
Additionally, Max’s expanded focus on sporting content means they can offer a sports add-on, country-specific rights dependent. Additionally, some local linear networks will be on offer locally.
What of a launch in the UK, however? Warner Bros Discovery still intends to launch Max in the UK, but the field is complicated by some thorny rights issues. Currently, UK-based Sky is the exclusive distributor for most of HBO’s content, with the deal running for a further 2 years. It is believed that some shows, House of the Dragon among them, are running under ‘life of series’ agreements, too, so the platform will retain those rights even if a wider deal is struck. Sky CEO Dana Strong is on the record as ‘optimistic’ that Sky will retain HBO’s content, too, even when the deal comes up for renewal. Currently, it is speculated that Sky and Warner Bros Discovery will come to a carriage deal, allowing Max to be exclusively carried on Sky’s pay-TV platform.
Warner Bros Discovery has been notable as the only US studio, and one of very few streaming platforms, to post a full-year profit for their streaming efforts, coming to a serviceable $103M through 2023. No doubt this planned expansion will help pep up interest- and this subscriber numbers- for the service, too, which could further bolster this notable milestone.