The streamers keep on coming. In 2025, Warner Bros Discovery is expected to launch its streaming service Max, previously known overseas as HBO Max, in Australia, which will most likely host content produced by the studio, such as Game of Thrones, The Last of Us, Succession, DC superhero films and TV shows, and other massive properties (particularly ones produced by subsidiary HBO) currently hosted on Binge.
Back in May 2020, Foxtel launched Binge, an Australia-only streaming service that has a lot of content, mostly due to content agreements with international partners. Earlier this year, the streamer got an ad-supported entry-level tier, following both Disney+ (in the U.S.) and Netflix in offering the cheaper but ad-filled plan.
Now, one of the biggest partners Binge once had, Warner Bros Discovery, has indicated a 2025 launch for its U.S. streaming service down under.
As reported by The AFR, Warner Bros Discovery’s president of global streaming and games Jean-Briac Perrette said Australia was “a critically important market for us”, and that the company would probably look to launch the streaming service in Australia in 2025.
Perrette said that a rollout across European countries it’s not yet available in will occur ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics, with Asia soon to follow after.
As per the AFR, the content-sharing agreement between Warner Bros Discovery and Binge is up for renegotiation in 2025 (after being signed again in March this year), which is likely when Max would debut in Australia, if it does at all. It’s unclear what the introduction of Max would mean for the properties currently housed on Binge, but TV shows and movies chop and change streaming services quite a lot already in Australia, anyway.
“No matter what they [Warner Bros Discovery] decide to do, we’re able to continue in many ways to be their partner and help monetise their content, whether it’s as simple as selling it to us as output, and if and when they launch [Max],” Foxtel Group chief executive Patrick Delany said back in March.
If Max does come to Australia it’ll join Netflix, Stan, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, Paramount+, Kayo, and of course Binge as the country’s streaming services. At the time of writing, the cost to subscribe to all of these platforms is about $71.93 per month (minus any plan additions), and if Max is set to arrive in Australia, it’ll likely bump the cost up to between $80 and $90 per month.
Do I want another streaming service? Not really. Does Warner Bros Discovery, through its subsidiary HBO, make some of the best shows right now? Absolutely.
Image: HBO
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