- WBD’s head of streaming says that Amazon could help its global rollout
- Sky’s deal to distribute Max content in the UK expires in a year
- Existing deals in the UK, Germany, and Italy have delayed Max’s launch
Max’s global expansion into markets outside of the US has notably left out the UK, Germany, and Italy due to existing deals in these regions, but the head of streaming for Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) says that could change with a new partner like Prime Video.
JB Perrette told Wells Fargo TMT Summit attendees, according to Deadline, that there are some “great alternatives” in these markets for partnership deals, going on to say how Amazon, in particular, was “eager to be more and more aggressive in that space.”
Max currently has a licensing deal with Sky in the UK, but this is set to expire at the end of 2025, so WBD has said that it plans to launch its streaming service here by 2026. It’s a similar story in Germany and Italy, where WBD has deals in place with broadcasters that end in 2026.
Max’s global expansion: A snapshot
When news broke earlier this year about HBO Max’s successor finally launching outside of the US, readers in the UK and Australia were understandably disappointed that it was only coming to Latin America.
That quickly changed, though, as Max’s global expansion started to set its sights on Europe. It launched in the Nordic countries, the Iberian Peninsula, and Central and Eastern Europe in May and has since expanded to Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France.
We’ve also since had confirmation that Max will land in Australia next year, despite Foxtel Group signing a multi-year deal with the service in March 2023. While this hasn’t been confirmed, there is speculation that Max content will remain on the service until the contract expires.
The same could then potentially happen to Sky in the UK. It might be that due to the crossover, some Max content may remain on Sky while the dedicated app is rolled out. But no exact date for its launch has been set.
Today’s news then could be a sign of further partnerships to come. For example, in France, WBD has a contract with Prime Video, which means it can show some of the best Max shows and best Max movies via new channels on the app. Whether more of these deals come to more countries could be on the cards following Perrette’s comments about Amazon.
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amelia.schwanke@futurenet.com (Amelia Schwanke)
