HBO Max Invades Britain — Testing a New Playbook for Global Streaming
Inside WBD’s bet that mass IP can outperform local storytelling as Netflix, Amazon and Disney double down on local hits
I cover global TV and film from London. I wrote about the Iran war’s impact on Mideast deals and production, the antitrust challenges for Paramount-WB in Europe and Disney’s scramble to catch up with Netflix in global TV. I’m manori@theankler.com
HBO Max has finally landed in Britain. But instead of rolling out the playbook that turned Netflix into the dominant force in U.K. television, Warner Bros. Discovery is trying something very different.
It isn’t commissioning local shows.
That decision is already raising eyebrows — and frustration — among the producers and executives who have become the backbone of Britain’s booming streaming economy. “We’re not invited to the biggest party of the year,” one producer tells me.
In today’s U.K. market, local originals aren’t just a nice-to-have — they’re the de facto strategy. Netflix, Amazon and Disney have all spent years investing in British stories, building relationships with local creatives and turning those shows into global hits. (Can you imagine the streaming landscape today without Netflix series The Crown, Adolescence, Baby Reindeer or Apple TV’s Slow Horses?)
HBO Max, by contrast, is betting it can win Britain with a very different mix: global IP (think Harry Potter), U.S.-driven productions and a light on-the-ground presence. It’s a strategy that puts the streamer on a collision course with both the local industry — and its biggest competitors.
To date, the global streamers have always bet big on local content to pull in local subscribers. As soon as a platform launch is announced, producers want to know, “Who can I pitch my shows to?” HBO Max putting U.S.-led shows center stage, and operating without a creative team on the ground, is unorthodox. But if it works? If the new player can carve out a competitive position in the market without making that local investment? Well, it could set an uncomfortable precedent for the creative community here by sending the signal that local shows aren’t essential for subs.
“They should be definitely commissioning some original stuff here if they want to try and make HBO work,” says The Crown producer Andy Harries. Especially if, as Casey Bloys has indicated, Harry Potter won’t be an annual offering.
Today, I speak to producers, indie bosses and analysts about HBO Max’s strategy and the current state of streaming’s Battleground Britain, the biggest canary in the coal mine for not just Warners and Netflix, but also Prime Video, Disney and Paramount.
Today:
The inside logic behind HBO Max’s decision to forgo local originals and the other tactics it’s pursuing to compete
What makes Netflix so powerful in the U.K. — including the top exec who’s “always been good to her word” with producers
HBO Max U.K.’s creative team of one and insiders’ doubts and confusion about the range and purpose of her role
Power player execs at Prime Video and Disney+ that HBO Max is up against
Why producers are finding it easier to work with Prime Video and Disney+
Why creatives say HBO Max is “not open for business” — and what that signals for a worldwide market built on local relationships
What changes if the Paramount+ tie-up resets the strategy — and reshapes the competitive landscape
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