HBO Max gears up for launch in 15 more countries

And similar to that, HBO Max is increasing its international attain. The streamer plans to scale up in Europe subsequent month, proprietor WarnerMedia mentioned Tuesday, launching in 15 extra international locations and territories there on March 8. HBO Max did not share pricing particulars for the brand new markets.

It will make HBO Max — which is already working within the US, Latin America and different components of Europe like Spain and Sweden — obtainable in 61 international locations complete. The service plans to widen to 6 different international locations later this 12 months, together with Greece and Turkey. 

However a licensing settlement with Sky TV presently prevents HBO Max from launching within the UK, Germany, France and Italy, 4 of Europe’s greatest markets. Sky TV has unique rights to some HBO and Warner Bros. content material, and the distribution deal would not expire till 2025. 

The worldwide enlargement is central to HBO Max’s race in opposition to rivals like Netflix, Disney Plus and different companies to dominate tv’s streaming future. With worldwide status in its HBO model and hundreds of thousands of {dollars} invested in unique programming, HBO Max hopes it may emerge as one of many uncommon must-have companies throughout extensive swaths of the world. HBO Max and HBO’s conventional networks ended 2021 with 73.8 million international subscribers between them. Netflix, by comparability, had 222 million, and Disney Plus notched 118 million as of early October.

Starting March 8, the service will launch in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia. Beforehand in Europe, HBO Max rolled out in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Spain and Andorra again in October. 

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