HBO Max Begins Global Expansion

The arrival of HBO Max in 39 territories in Latin America and the Caribbean marks the kickoff of the global expansion of the WarnerMedia-owned service.

HBO Max has committed to producing 100 originals in LatAm over the next two years to complement the lineup of content from HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Network and the DC Universe, HBO Max U.S. originals and third-party acquisitions. The originals lineup will include the Mexican action-comedy Búnker and family drama Amarres and the Argentine youth and musical drama Días de Gallos. On the sports doc front, there’s Bilardo, El Doctor del Fútbol from Argentina. HBO Max will also deliver a stop-motion horror anthology for kids from Mexico’s Cinema Fantasma called Frankelda’s Book of Spooks. Announcing the slate in April, Tomás Yankelevich, chief content officer at WarnerMedia Latin America, noted, “Currently, we are working on productions that cover a wide variety of different genres and formats, with all kinds of local stories that are relevant to our consumers, reinforcing our commitment to local communities with our great Latin American talent and most certainly with our audience. And this is only the beginning.”

The service will also be delivering UEFA Champions League coverage in Brazil and Mexico, beginning later this year. Customers who sign up for HBO Max in the region before July 31 will receive a 50 percent discount off the regular monthly plan for as long as they maintain their subscription without interruption. In addition to the standard plan, HBO Max is offering a mobile tier in Latin America and the Caribbean.

“Over our first year since launch, fans in the U.S. have chosen HBO Max as one of their favorite streaming platforms,” said Johannes Larcher, head of HBO Max International. Of the LatAm and Caribbean launch yesterday, Larcher noted, “There couldn’t be a better place to begin our global journey, as WarnerMedia has been a favorite and trusted source for compelling and entertaining content for the whole family.”

The service in Latin America is being overseen by Luis Durán as general manager. “HBO Max launches in our region with an unprecedented offer rewarding our first wave of subscribers and sure to delight our fans by making our collection of movies and TV series more accessible and more affordable than ever before,” Durán said. “This past year with its unprecedented health and economic crises has been challenging for our fans from Tijuana to Tierra del Fuego, and so we are thrilled to bring some joy and inspiration to the entire community through this exclusive, once-in-a-lifetime launch offer.”

Later this year, HBO Max heads to Europe. Speaking at AT&T’s Analyst and Investor Day in March, WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar (whose future role at the company is uncertain amid the pending Discovery merger) said European expansion would begin in the second half. It is expected to arrive in 21 countries, building on HBO Europe’s footprint. “With a near doubling of content compared to HBO for the same price, along with a dramatically improved user experience, we think European consumers will quickly embrace this new service,” Kilar said.

The service is not expected in the key markets of the U.K., Germany, Italy and Australia any time soon, given HBO’s volume deals with operators in those territories.

In Asia, HBO Max recently enlisted Disney veteran Amit Malhotra as managing director for Southeast Asia and India. Reporting to Larcher, Malhotra will take the lead on the rollout and management of HBO Max in Southeast Asia. He will immediately assume responsibility for HBO GO, WarnerMedia’s existing OTT service in the region, and spearhead the introduction of HBO Max in those markets. He will also explore a potential future launch in India. HBO Max is looking to launch in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. “WarnerMedia’s brands, including DC Universe, HBO and Cartoon Network, are extremely popular with passionate fans and audiences across this region,” Malhotra said at the time of his appointment. “With a focus on consumers, our goal will be to bring all of these brands and content together in an exciting new world-class streaming experience as we move into the future with HBO Max.”

AT&T earlier this year said that HBO and HBO Max are forecast to hit 120 million subs by the end of 2025 in the U.S. and the LatAm and European markets that the service is expanding to this year, up from 67 million to 70 million at the end of this year. The service expects to be live in 61 markets by year-end. “We think there’s an opportunity to scale to 150 million subscribers by year-end 2025,” Kilar said at the AT&T investor day. “That does not include some sizable markets where we have licensing agreements, like the U.K., Germany, Italy and Australia, which we believe represent further upside longer term, beyond the 150 million. This strong subscriber momentum is fueling our top-line growth. We expect HBO Max and HBO revenue to more than double over the next five years to $15 billion. These revenue figures only reflect the initial 61 markets. Other markets would be incremental revenue opportunity to this $15 billion number. We expect to increase our investment over the next several years, with peak dilution in 2022 and then breaking even in 2025.”