HBO Max staked its claim on a big chunk of Europe on Tuesday, launching in both Germany and Italy, two of Europe’s biggest territories, as well as handful of smaller countries, including Austria, Switzerland, Greece, Israel, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein.
Ahead of the rollout, HBO signed multiyear carriage deals with Amazon’s Prime Video deal that will see the premium service added as an add-on subscription to Prime Video customers in Italy, Germany and Austria. HBO Max also extended their existing European Prime Video deals in France, Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden and Belgium.
“2026 is a huge year for HBO Max as we launch in some of the world’s biggest economies,” said Qaisar Rafique, executive vp, head of commercial development, EMEA & APAC, Warner Bros. Discovery. “Prime Video’s vast reach will help us entertain as many people as possible in these new markets.”
Added Elisabetta Carruba, director, Prime Video Channels, EMEA: “HBO is synonymous with top-quality programming; the addition of HBO Max as an add-on subscription to our existing catalog of world-class series, blockbuster movies and live sport is an important step in our aim of becoming the first stop entertainment destination for our customers.”
HBO is a latecomer to the streaming game in much of Europe. Long-running deals with pay-TV group Sky prevented it from launching in Germany, Italy and the U.K. until this year. The carriage deals with Prime, and bundling arrangements with local platforms, including RTL+ and Waipu TV in Germany, Sunrise and Swisscom in Switzerland, Hot and Yes in Israel and Vodafone in Greece, should help HBO scale more quickly and make up for lost time. In an increasingly competitive streaming market, platforms are seeing the benefits of aggregation, creating cooperative business models that look a lot like old school cable bundling.
The company will complete its European land grab when it launches across the U.K. and Ireland in March.
HBO is celebrating off its new European operations with a major blowout party in Berlin Tuesday night to celebrate the world premiere of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, a new Game of Thrones prequel series that bows of the service Jan. 19. HBO has flown in the series leads, including Peter Claffey, Dexter Sol Ansell, Sam Spruell, Daniel Ings, Finn Bennett, Bertie Carvel and Tanzyn Crawford, for the celebration, and even the big boss, Casey Bloys, chairman and CEO, HBO and Max Content, will be in town to oversee the extension of the empire.
Alongside The Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, HBO Max is hoping to draw in European viewers with highlights including Noah Wyle’s Emmy Award-winning The Pitt, steamy Canadian hockey romance drama Heated Rivalry, Paul Thomas Anderson’s Golden Globe champ (and Oscar frontrunner) One Battle After Another, which will makes its streaming debut Tuesday, and library favorites include Friends, The Big Bang Theory, and the Harry Potter movies. A sports add-on will give viewers access to live events including the 2026 Olympic Winter Games, and the French and Australian Opens.
Local-language originals will also be part of the slate, with new German series 4 Blocks Zero, a prequel to the hit Berlin gangster drama 4 Blocks and heist drama Banksters, and from Italy, Marco Bellocchio’s Portobello, and docuseries including Gina Lollobrigida: Diva Contesa and Saman.
Local films like Warner Bros. Pictures Germany’s Wunderschöner and Italian features Nonostante and Squali, the latter starring James Franco, will be available on HBO Max in 2026.
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