Streaming platform HBO Max will be coming to Australia and other key Asian markets in the first half of next year.
Warner Bros APAC president James Gibbons confirmed the launch to attendees of the APOS media and telecommunications conference in Bali this week.
Despite launching in the US in May 2020, HBO Max has had a slow global rollout due to local market licensing and partnerships for HBO content, particularly in Asia and Australia.
HBO in Australia causes problems for Foxtel as its streaming platform Binge has the licence to HBO programs.
"We have had a longstanding and really important relationship with Foxtel and I think the time has come for us to expand that into the DTC space," Gibbons said.
"Partners are really important for us, and in fact, if I think across the region, the discussions we’ve either announced or the discussions that are happening, in every case we continue to work with our key partners to roll out direct-to-consumer streaming.
"I think that really says a lot about our view of what streaming is in today’s world, and it also says a lot about how partners and aggregators are looking at the business."
Media buyers told AdNews the market growth for new streaming competitors could be small, as the Australian ecosystem is already competitive which pushed down advertising prices.
Max will debut in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan by the end of 2024.
This follows the launch of Max in Japan via local partner U-Next.
Max will live within the U-Next platform for no additional cost for consumers.
The deal will also be a “two-way street” with U-Next taking Max’s content, but also Max taking some of U-Next’s Japanese content, including anime, for their global platform.
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