It's official: HBO's streaming platform, Max, is coming to Australia next year, as confirmed today by Warner Bros. Discovery. Announced at a conference this morning, Warner Bros.
Discovery APAC president James Gibbons told attendees that the service will launch in Australia sometime within the first half of 2025, remarking "that's definitely happening". Gibbons also announced that Max will make its way to Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan by the end of 2024, with the service replacing the existing HBO Go platform. Gibbons added that the company has "had a longstanding and really important relationship with Foxtel and I think the time has come for us to expand that into the DTC [direct-to-consumer] space".
But with an imminent launch seemingly months away, it's unclear what this means for homegrown streamer Binge and parent company Foxtel Group's current multi-year rights deal with Warner Bros. Discovery . We previously reported on this back in March , when rumours were fuelled after Warner Bros.
Discovery global head of streaming and games Jean-Briac Perette noted that HBO's content had performed "extremely well" in Australia and there was no denying the "demand" for the Max's content catalogue. What about Binge? Since its launch, Binge has acted as the Aussie streaming home to HBO shows, with fan favourites like The White Lotus and Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon fast-tracked to the platform. Some of HBO's biggest shows were major drawcards for early Binge sub.
