Arrival of HBO Max shakes up streaming landscape in Italy.
HBO Max, the streaming service from Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), debuted in Italy on Tuesday and is now available to download and start streaming direct-to-consumer.
The move comes after years of licensing deals that kept WBD premium content tethered to third-party providers, in what is a major shake-up of the streaming market in Italy.
The launch is part of a European expansion that includes Austria, Germany, Greece, Israel, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Switzerland, with the service to become available in the UK and Ireland at the end of March.
For Italian viewers, the arrival of HBO Max means a “one-stop shop” for some of the most critically acclaimed television in recent years, offering a mix of global blockbusters and locally-based productions.
Subscribers get access to House of the Dragon, The Last of Us, The White Lotus, The Pitt and the upcoming Game of Thrones prequel, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (premiering on 19 January).
The platform also hosts classic series such as Friends, The Sopranos, Sex and the City, and The Wire, as well as the Harry Potter saga and The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Italian originals include the 20 February release of Portobello, a series directed by Marco Bellocchio about the life of Enzo Tortora, the television presenter who was unjustly convicted of being a member of the Camorra and drug trafficking in 1985, and sentenced to 10 years in jail.
Other upcoming Italian titles include Melania Rea – Beyond the Case; In Utero; and Gina Lollobrigida: Diva Contesa.
In a major play for the market, HBO Max will also host comprehensive live coverage of the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games, available to all subscribers regardless of their plan.
In addition to the hbomax.it website, the service is available via the HBO Max app, as an add-on for Amazon Prime Video customers, and through a strategic partnership with TIMVISION.
The arrival of HBO Max signals the end of an era for Sky Italia. While some existing series (including House of the Dragon) will continue to have new seasons air on Sky through co-exclusivity deals, the “back catalogue” including series such as The Sopranos, The Wire and Succession are shifting to HBO Max.
Italian viewers have several subscription options, ranging from the basic plan of €5.99 per month to the premium plan at €16.99 per month.
