HBO readies streaming service for Game of Thrones fans in Spain

HBO is making good on its plan, announced earlier this year, to spread its streaming services to other countries. It’s been prepping a steaming service in Spain for a while. Now, HBO Spain has its own Twitter account, and HBO welcomed it “to the @HBO realm” with a little video message.

HBO even recruited a big gun to kick things off: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister).

The Game of Thrones actors are pretty much treated like rock stars in Spain, so recruiting Coster-Waldau to make the sales pitch was a good idea. If you need proof, watch this quick video of Emilia Clarke (Daenerys) arriving at her hotel in Seville a week ago.

As Los Siete Reinos notes, Game of Thrones is currently broadcast in Spain through Moviestar, and it was unclear whether or how the new streaming service would change that. HBO confirmed today that Game of Thrones will be part of HBO Spain’s lineup (along with Westworld, Veep, True Detective, and many other shows). At the same time, Moviestar will continue to broadcast new episodes as they come out, so no one comfortable with their current setup needs to worry about purchasing a new service, at least for now.

For those interested in the streaming service, it will be offered through telecommunications giant Vodafone. Depending on what package customers have, they’ll get HBO Spain for free for a while—anywhere from three months to forever—after which they’ll pay 7.99 euros per month. Customers who don’t use Vodafone will be able to use the service as well, although HBO hasn’t released a price point yet.

Nor has the network revealed a release date. (Coster-Waldau says it’s coming “very soon” in the video above, which is nice and vague.) Still, it looks like fans will have more options when Game of Thrones Season 7 rolls around.

HBO launching a streaming service in Spain makes sense. About three-fourths of the population has high-speed internet access, so HBO Spain could be very popular right out of the gate. On the other hand, the market for streaming services in Spain is competitive—Netflix arrived there earlier this year—and piracy is known to be a problem.

We’ll know how well HBO’s gamble pays off “very soon.”