Streaming service Max will finally roll out to Europe later this spring, replacing HBO Max on the continent. With the exception of the United Kingdom – the situation in the British Isles is a bit complicated.
This news comes straight from a keynote presentation by JB Perette, the CEO and president of Global Streaming and Games at Warner Bros. Discovery. The rollout will not happen in one go, but in two waves.
On May 21, Max will be officially launched in the Scandinavian countries, the Iberian Peninsula and Central and Eastern Europe. It’s important to note that HBO Max is already available in these regions, so the change will happen sooner there. The service will then soon be made available in Poland, the Netherlands, France and Belgium.
It is not known exactly when the platform will go live in the last four countries, but it could happen in the summer. As Variety points out, the 2024 Olympic Games start on July 26 in Paris. Additionally, “Max will be the only platform streaming all live coverage of the (games).” So if they want most of Europe to watch the Olympics, it will have to come out before then.
Prices
Subscription prices are currently unknown. Prices were not announced during Perette’s presentation, although some information is available. According to Variety, Max will offer a low-cost basic subscription with ads in Europe, as well as a premium subscription that will allow viewers to “stream content in Full HD or 4K on up to four devices simultaneously.” They further claim that users will get “up to 100 downloads of content.” As the service becomes available, pricing should become clearer.
At first glance, it appears that Max subscribers will be able to download up to 100 individual movies and shows from the platform. It’s possible that Variety is actually talking about allowing users to download hundreds of movies and shows. We think it’s the former, but again the wording isn’t very clear.
Coming back to the subscriptions, the basic plan is first launching in nine countries, including Denmark, France, Norway and Romania. Prices for everything “will vary from country to country.” More will be revealed in the coming months.
UK availability
Max’s presence in Britain is dependent on the business deal that Warner Bros. Discovery has with the British telecommunications company Sky.
As Deadline explains, Sky is the “exclusive distributor of most HBO content” in Britain due to a “lucrative licensing deal.” The contract doesn’t expire until 2026, so it’s entirely possible that people there will have to wait another two years before they can get something similar to Max.
Sky has special ‘life of series agreements’ for certain content so they can continue to stream it even if the deal changes. Of course, Warner Bros. and Sky change their contracts within the next two years, but whether that will happen remains to be seen.
For movie recommendations, check out Ny Breaking’s roundup of the best Max movies to stream in March 2024.