As it expands to Latin America, streaming service will add livestreamed UEFA Champions League soccer matches in Brazil and Mexico to its mix of films, TV series and HBO Max originals.

Alan Breznick, Cable/Video Practice Leader, Light Reading

May 28, 2021

3 Min Read
HBO Max heads south, adds mobile option

Sticking with its ambitious international rollout of HBO Max even as it preps for its planned marriage to Discovery, AT&T's WarnerMedia has reiterated plans to launch its flagship SVOD service across Latin America and the Caribbean late next month.

WarnerMedia announced earlier this week that it will roll out its year-old HBO Max service in 39 countries and territories in Latin America and the Caribbean on June 29 as it gears up the service for global coverage. Plans also call for launching HBO Max throughout much of Europe this year, raising the total number of international markets covered to 60.

The roster of Latin American and Caribbean markets includes Anguilla, Antigua, Argentina, Aruba, B.V.I., Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Cayman Islands, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Curacao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Montserrat, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks and Caicos, Uruguay and Venezuela. WarnerMedia will offer the service through such partners as AT&T Mexico, DirecTV Latin America, Sky Brasil, DirecTV GO and Grupo América Móvil. Existing HBO linear subscribers at Claro Video (Mexico), Claro (Brazil), Claro (Latam), Oi (Brazil), Tim (Brazil), TotalPlay (Mexico), VIVO (Brazil), VTR (Chile) will have access to HBO Max at no additional cost.

"Our launch in Latin America and the Caribbean is the first step in our global rollout of HBO Max," said Johannes Larcher, head of HBO Max International, in a written statement. "WarnerMedia is one of the most popular and trusted sources of entertainment across Latin America, and we are very excited that our global journey starts here."

As part of its southward expansion, HBO Max will offer two monthly subscription plans, including a mobile option. The plans, which start at $3 per month, include Standard (with access to three simultaneous users, five personalized profiles, content downloads and 4K video) and Mobile (with a single standard definition stream with optimized image quality).

In addition, HBO Max will offer subscriptions for recurring periods of three or 12 months, with a discount of up to 30% in its new international markets.

This push south of the US border comes as HBO Max continues to gain steam. AT&T reported recently that it ended Q1 with 63.9 million HBO and HBO Max subs worldwide and now expects to close out the year with 67 million to 70 million HBO and HBO Max subs.

HBO Max's Latin American move also comes amid uncertainty over who will be running WarnerMedia in the future as it comes under the Discovery umbrella. In the latest news on that front, WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar told staffers at a town hall meeting Thursday that he plans to stay with the company at least through the first part of next year, according to Variety.

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— Alan Breznick, Cable/Video Practice Leader, Light Reading

About the Author(s)

Alan Breznick

Cable/Video Practice Leader, Light Reading

Alan Breznick is a business editor and research analyst who has tracked the cable, broadband and video markets like an over-bred bloodhound for more than 20 years.

As a senior analyst at Light Reading's research arm, Heavy Reading, for six years, Alan authored numerous reports, columns, white papers and case studies, moderated dozens of webinars, and organized and hosted more than 15 -- count 'em --regional conferences on cable, broadband and IPTV technology topics. And all this while maintaining a summer job as an ostrich wrangler.

Before that, he was the founding editor of Light Reading Cable, transforming a monthly newsletter into a daily website. Prior to joining Light Reading, Alan was a broadband analyst for Kinetic Strategies and a contributing analyst for One Touch Intelligence.

He is based in the Toronto area, though is New York born and bred. Just ask, and he will take you on a power-walking tour of Manhattan, pointing out the tourist hotspots and the places that make up his personal timeline: The bench where he smoked his first pipe; the alley where he won his first fist fight. That kind of thing.

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