HBO Max is launching in 15 additional countries on March 8th, 2022, WarnerMedia announced on Tuesday. The 15 countries are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia. The streaming service will expand to six more European countries later this year, including Greece and Turkey.
“The global roll out of HBO Max continues at pace as we launch the platform in 15 additional European countries, taking us to 61 territories worldwide,” said Johannes Larcher, the head of HBO Max International, in a statement. “We are delivering on our strategy to go direct-to-consumer around the world which coupled with our beloved content will give us the scale needed to be one of the top global streaming platforms.”
HBO, including HBO Max, now reaches 73.8 million global subscribers as of the end of 2021, according to news shared by parent company AT&T last month. HBO Max launched in the United States in May 2020 and began its global rollout launching in markets across Latin America and the Caribbean last summer, followed by its first European launches in the Nordics and Spain. Currently available in 46 countries, WarnerMedia plans to continue the expansion of HBO Max in 2022.
News of HBO Max’s expansion plans come as Disney recently announced that Disney+ is launching in 42 additional countries and 11 territories in Europe, the Middle East and Africa this summer. Notable new countries include South Africa, Turkey, Poland and the United Arab Emirates. The streaming service is currently available in 64 countries.
HBO Max and Disney+ have spent the past couple of years competing with Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and several other streaming services. For context, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video are available globally, with a few exceptions. Netflix isn’t available in China, Crimea, North Korea, or Syria, whereas Amazon Prime Video isn’t available in Mainland China, Iran, North Korea and Syria.
