Existing licensing deals are preventing the new HBO Max from rolling out across Europe as a whole.
Shows including Succession and The Flight Attendant have already been licensed to other broadcasters, including Sky until 2025. The agreement effectively prevents HBO from launching under its own brand in the UK, Germany and Italy.
In an interview with the Financial Times, chief executive said he was “spending a lot of time thinking about what happens” once the Sky contract has been completed.
The FT says that following Kilar’s appointment the option of renegotiating the Sky contract was discussed. It has subsequently been confirmed that HBO Max will not launch in Europe until the contract has expired.
HBO Europe is already running a direct-to-consumer streaming service in the Nordics, Spain, Portugal and other countries. The service is being rebranded as HBO Max.
Meanwhile, Sky is pushing the streaming aspect of its Sky Q box with access to HBO rivals Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Discovery+.
