After years of speculation, Warner Bros Discovery (WBD), parent company to HBO, has officially announced that it will launch Max (formerly HBO Max) in Australia in the first half of next year.
Speaking at a media and telecommunications conference in Bali as reported by The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros’ APAC regional president James Gibbons said: “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 [direct-to-consumer] space.”
“We can also confirm we’ll be launching our direct service in Australia in the first half of next year; that’s definitely happening,” Gibbons continued.
With South East Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan already set to receive Max – replacing HBO Go in these regions – by the end of 2024, Gibbons gave no clear date on when we can expect Max to land Down Under.
This comes just days after Max became available in Japan through U-Next, a local all-encompassing streaming service that offers everything from movies and anime to magazines and manga. And, while Gibbons stated that WBD will continue to invest in the Japanese market after success with DC Comics content, Max's arrival in Australia is most interesting because of what it could mean for the current Foxtel and Telstra-owned Binge partnership – the current home of HBO in Australia.
Gluttony is a sin, but you can still Binge
Gibbons stated that WBD is taking a "flexible and diverse" strategy for the rollout of Max in the southern hemisphere, with a goal to "reach the fan base and find a route to the market for the fan base".
Adding more confusion (and excitement) is the fact that in just March of 2023, the Foxtel Group signed a "multi-year deal" to hold onto access to Warner Bros Discovery content. We don’t have any clarity on how long the partnership was supposed to last but, even if that deal was, say, for three years, that would make Binge the home for HBO content in Australia at least through the end of 2025. That means Binge will still likely house HBO shows if Max launches “in the first half” of next year.
At least until that multi-year deal is completed, Max could live on Binge in Australia the same way it does on U-Next in Japan. Much like Hulu – which is a standalone streaming service in the United States, but operates through Disney Plus in Australia – Max could continue to be part of Binge – just with a little 'Max' tag.
A lot will depend on broadcasting rights for this to work, though – for example, Hulu originals like Shōgun, Only Murders in the Building and The Bear are exclusive to Disney Plus, while The Great and Fargo – also both Hulu shows – are found on Stan instead. How much of the Max original content will be made available on Binge is currently anyone’s guess.
Of course, Binge could maintain access to HBO content through a deal for delayed reception of new content and survive as a lesser, serviceable streaming service. The best shows on Binge right now, though, are almost exclusively from HBO, and one thing is clear – Max is finally coming to Australia, and Binge will feel the impact of its highly anticipated landing.
