The president of Warner Bros. Discovery International has doubled down on the company’s intention to launch its streaming service Max in the UK, Germany and Italy.
Currently, the three Sky markets have an output deal to include HBO content on the Sky Atlantic channel.
The agreement, which expires in 2025, means that when Max is launched in Europe over the next few weeks the key territories will be absent. Instead the markets will continue with sister service Discovery+.
“Sky was always a great partner for us, and it’s still a great partner today. That’s number one. But we want, we need to, and we will launch Max in these three markets,” said Gerhard Zeiler, president of Warner Bros. Discovery International, in comments made at the MoffettNathanson media conference first reported by Deadline.
“These are three of the most important markets outside of the US. There is no reason we should not do that. Why should we disadvantage ourselves by not launching Max?”
Warner Bros. Discovery has announced that Max will go live in 22 European territories on May 21, followed by France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Poland on June 11.
