HBO Max lays out plans to expand into Europe

HBO Max is finally coming to Europe over the course of the next year, putting Game of Thrones, the Harry Potter movies, and much more at people’s fingertips.

WarnerMedia launched its new streaming service HBO Max in the US last May, and already it’s amassed tens of millions of subscribers. At $15 per month, it’s the most expensive popular streaming service on the market, but with Game of Thrones, Friends, the Harry Potter movies and much more, it makes a strong case for itself, especially during a period when so many people were stuck at home. I’ll be honest: I probably use HBO Max more than any other streaming service.

And it’s just getting started. HBO Max debuted in 39 territories in Latin America and the Caribbean in June, and now it’s setting its sights on Europe. On October 26, HBO Max will be available in the European territories of Spain, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Andorra. And next year, it’ll be available in 14 more territories: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia.

All of this came out on a call with analysts the other day, according to The Hollywood Reporter. You may note that big territories like the UK, Italy, France and Germany are all absent from this plan. That may be because HBO usually licenses its content in those areas through existing operators like the Comcast-owned Sky in the UK. HBO said that “additional territory launches are also planned for next year.” Quoth HBO Max executive Johannes Larcher:

"WarnerMedia movies and series like Harry Potter, Game of Thrones and The Big Bang Theory are passionately consumed by fans all across Europe. HBO Max has been created to provide them with the most intuitive and convenient viewing experience to watch these and a diverse range of other amazing titles."

We don’t know how much HBO Max will cost in these European territories, but WarnerMedia plans to fill us in at a virtual launch event next month.

On that same call, WarnerMedia raised its forecast for global HBO Max subscribers to between 70 million and 73 million by the end of 2021. Before it was between 67 million to 70 million subscribers. The streaming wars are heating up.

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h/t Geo News