The American streaming platform wants to expand its borders. In 2021 it will arrive in other countries around the world. Here are the details.
Hbo is one of the most popular U.S. pay-TV broadcasters, owned by Home Box Office, which is then linked to WarnerMedia. Among the services offered to its subscribers there is also the streaming platform Hbo Max. It's a service very similar to Netflix or Amazon Prime Video, launched in the U.S. in 2020.
In one year, it has realized a boom in subscriptions, complicit in the pandemic that has brought millions of people closer to home entertainment. Besides, Hbo Max represents one of the most provided services for TV series and movies lovers. It collects an endless catalog of international titles already known, as well as many exclusive content. The company has now announced that it will soon expand its boundaries: Hbo Max is ready to land in 39 other countries around the world, from Latin America to Europe. For the moment, however, Italy will have to wait. There are, however, solutions to watch foreign content also in our country.
Hbo Max: platform features
Although Italy is not among the countries that will soon receive the streaming platform, we can still have interesting news in the coming years. So it's good to get ready to welcome them. First of all, the catalog of Hbo Max includes DC series (the direct competitors of Marvel that instead belong to Disney +) but also the titles Warner Bros, Cartoon Network and Looney Tunes Cartoons. In addition to these, there is the Max Original content: soon under this production will be released the Friends special and the sequel to Gossip Girl.
Just like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video or Disney+, to access HBO Max you need to have a subscription and download the app for smart TV, smartphone, tablet or watch content on your PC through the browser.
The subscription costs €14.99 per month in the U.S., while the company has not yet made official the prices for abroad.
Hbo Max: why Italy must wait?
Among the countries of the World that will receive stand out Portugal, Spain, but also Venezuela, Argentina, Costa Rica, Central Europe... the big absentee is Italy. Why? In 2019 Hbo made an agreement with Sky that, until 2024, holds the rights to distribute many of the company's contents.
So probably Hbo's catalog could arrive on Sky and Now Tv, while the streaming platform will not arrive immediately. In fact, a lot of content distributed by Hbo in the U.S., in our country has been broadcast on Sky and Now Tv. One of these is the TV series The Undoing, but also Euphoria or Game of Thrones.
How to watch Hbo Max in Italy?
Although the company has decided to put our country on stand-by, there is a solution that allows you to get around the obstacle: the VPN (virtual private network).
These solutions allow you to connect to foreign platforms that are not available in our country. You just have to download a certain software and pay a subscription. At the moment this is the only way to watch Hbo Max in Italy, waiting for the platform to officially arrive in our country.