HBO Max is coming to the UK and Ireland early next year. The streaming service will launch on these shores in March 2026, HBO has announced. But Sky customers will still be able to watch HBO content under the terms of the current deal.
Currently, Sky carries HBO content like Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, The Last Of Us, Succession, House Of The Dragon and The White Lotus via its Sky Atlantic and Sky Comedy channels. The two broadcasters also work together on joint productions like George McKay's forthcoming legal thriller War.
Sky customers will still be able to watch this existing content once HBO Max launches. HBO is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, which also owns Warner Bros. Pictures and the DC Universe – giving Sky (and HBO Max) customers access to films like the Harry Potter franchise, Superman, The Batman and Dune.
For the first time in the UK, non-Sky customers will be able to subscribe direct with HBO Max to enjoy all this content.
So it's good news for Sky customers, right? This being streaming, it's not quite that straightforward.
Once HBO Max has launched in the UK, Sky customers will still have access to existing HBO shows – and any future series – on the same Sky channels as now. But new series – like the forthcoming Harry Potter show – will have to be watched through the standalone HBO Max service, the ad-supported tier of which will be bundled free for Sky customers.
So it won't cost Sky customers any extra. But they will have to watch through a different service, much as they do with Netflix content currently.
Complicating matters further, HBO is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, which plans to split into two separate companies. HBO will be part of the 'Studios & Streaming' business, which is currently seeking a new owner. Bidders include streaming big hitter Netflix, Paramount Skydance (owner of Paramount+) and Comcast (which owns Sky).
The deal is hoping to conclude by the end of December. So by the time HBO Max launches in the UK, it could have a completely different owner, and hence be a very different proposition.
If Comcast wins, it could simply offer all the content as part of its Sky offering. This would mean either retiring the HBO Max service soon after it launches on these shores, or even not launch it at all.
The same could be said for Netflix – and as Netflix is bundled with most Sky subscriptions, Sky customers would get the same access to all the HBO content they do now.
Paramount could merge HBO Max with its Paramount+ service, but what would it call it?
As you can see, there are a lot of moving parts to this deal. HBO Max's UK tiers and pricing information are also yet to be confirmed.
The UK launch is the latest part of HBO Max's international rollout. In January, the service will expand to Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein.
HBO Max launched in 2020. It was briefly renamed Max, but then changed its name back following widespread derision.
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