HBO Max, WarnerMedia’s direct-to-consumer streaming platform, has plotted its first six European market launches for October 26.
Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Spain and Andorra will be the first countries to get the new streaming service and in 2022, HBO Max will become available in the 14 additional territories: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia.
HBO Max will be hosting a virtual launch event in October for its European streaming product so it can show off the content offering, price points and other details. The company said additional territory launches are also planned for next year.
HBO Max will be available to new customers as well as existing customers of HBO España, HBO Nordic and HBO Go (billed either directly or via eligible partners).
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“This is a historic moment as HBO Max lands in Europe,” said Johannes Larcher, head of HBO Max International, in a statement. “WarnerMedia movies and series like ‘Harry Potter,’ ‘Game of Thrones’ and ‘The Big Bang Theory’ are passionately consumed by fans all across Europe, and 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.”
“The unique and exclusive combination of iconic content from Warner Bros., HBO, DC, Cartoon Network, Max Originals, including local productions and more, creates a streaming platform that fans in Europe will love,” said Christina Sulebakk, general manager of HBO Max EMEA, in a statement. “We see enormous potential as we roll-out the all-new, supercharged streaming platform across the region.”
The European plans for HBO Max arrive shortly after the service officially launched in 39 territories in Latin America and the Caribbean. That launch was marked by deep discounts for new subscribers and a Mobile plan that includes a single standard definition stream with optimized image quality for a reduced price.
Sarah Lyons, executive vice president for direct-to-consumer global product management at WarnerMedia, said earlier this month at FierceVideo’s StreamTV Show, that her company has focused on building a scalable software foundation instead of building new for individual regions.
“We are creating one global tech stack and one global product,” she said. “We do have configurability and localization capabilities by market. It will feel very local and personal, even though it’s on that global tech stack.”