Max streaming service is coming to Europe… but there’s a catch

Warner Bros. Discovery has confirmed that Max is coming to Europe starting from 21 May, but the UK is not on the list of countries confirmed to get the platform.  

The streaming service, which is home to blockbusters such as Barbie and acclaimed TV series like House of the Dragon, first rebranded from HBO Max in the US in May of last year. This was to account for new content that came in from the service merging with Discovery+. 

That means that users can get Eurosport content via Max, which includes the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Discovery+ also has a raft of reality and unscripted content, such as 90 Day Fiancé and Gold Rush. 

Besides Eurosport, the international Max plans will also include some other broadcast TV offerings such as CNN International in France and Poland, TVN in Poland, TV Norge in Norway, Kanal 5 in Sweden.

On the 21 May, the service will land in the Nordics, Iberia and central and eastern Europe, and not long after will then launch in Poland, the Netherlands, France and Belgium.

The latter two countries have never had HBO Max before, demonstrating Warner’s ambition to build its global audience.

Warner Bros. Discovery

Warner Bros. Discovery

Warner Bros. Discovery

However, it’s no surprise to see the UK missing from that list. Sky currently has an agreement to syndicate content from HBO and Warner via its premium TV packages and streaming service Now.  

According to the FT, this deal will come to an end next year. So, there’s a chance that Max could still arrive in the UK in 2025… unless Sky renews its deal, that is.  

Here are the plans announced by Warner, which are the same ones that are in America after Max made the Sports add-on a paid addition for subscribers: 

Max Basic with Ads Plan 

The lowest price plan includes advertising, supports two devices for simultaneous streaming and content capped at Full HD resolution. 

Max Standard Plan 

The next plan up is ad-free, supports two devices for simultaneous streaming and content capped at Full HD resolution. This plan also allows up to 30 downloads. 

Max Premium Plan 

The most premium ad-free plan supports four devices simultaneously, and streaming in 4K with Dolby Atmos. This plan also allows up to 100 downloads. 

Max Sports Add-On:

The Sports Add-On allows customers to stream events such as Grand Slam tennis, cycling’s Grand Tours, 24 Hours of Le Mans, the live linear networks Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2 and more.  

This is sold as an add-on to any base plan, so customers can simultaneously stream on the same number of devices that is included on their base plan.  

JB Perrette, chief executive and president of global streaming and games at Warner Bros Discovery, gave the following quote to the FT: “We’re at the beginning part of the journey. We have a variety of building blocks of where that growth is now going to come from — the most important is globalisation.” 

Exact prices will be available in specific countries in the coming months. In the States, the Basic with Ads plan costs $9.99 per month, the Standard plan costs $15.99 per month and the Premium plan costs $19.99 per month. The sports add-on is an additional $9.99 per month.  

Therefore, expect pricing to be in line with these figures, unless Max increases its prices again.

If you’re an existing European HBO Max subscriber, then you shouldn’t need to do anything – the app should just update, and your watch history will be transferred over.

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