Earlier this year, Sky revealed that Warner Bros. Discovery’s HBO Max streaming app would be coming to the UK in 2026, but there was still a question of when exactly it would launch.
Some sleuthing by Trusted Reviews indicated that the app would arrive in the UK around April 2026. There’s been an update, and it’s good news.
When is the Max streaming app coming to the UK?
We had confirmation earlier in the year via Sky that the Max app is coming to the UK in 2026. Initially, Trusted Reviews was told that it would be available to viewers in the UK and Ireland from April 2026.
In early December 2025, Casey Bloys, the CEO of HBO Max, confirmed that it’s coming a little earlier in March 2026.
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Sky had a longstanding deal with Warner Bros. as the home of Game of Thrones in the UK. With the contract set to lapse at the end of 2025, Sky is saying it’ll be business as usual despite the Warners’ content being corralled into its own app.
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It’ll be available to watch for ‘free’ on Sky for subscribers, and this new deal with Sky will run beyond the end of this decade.
What is HBO Max?
HBO Max is a streaming app that’s had a chequered history in terms of its name. HBO Max replaced both HBO Go and HBO Now when it was first launched, then changed its name to Max, before recently changing its name back to HBO Max. It was all a bit confusing.
HBO Max is the home of HBO TV series, Turner Classic Movies, Adult Swim, Cartoon Network, and CNN, as well as the film titles in Warners 100+ year history as a film studio.
Of course, we don’t expect all of those ‘channels’ to make the switch when it launches, and in the UK there’s still the Discovery+ app and TNT Sports.
However, there’s uncertainty as to whether HBO Max will even exist in a year’s time, considering that Warner Bros. is currently up for sale, with Netflix, Comcast (who own Sky in the UK), and Paramount interested in buying the media conglomerate.
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What will happen to House of the Dragon and The Last of Us on Sky?
credit: Sky
With a fourth season of House of the Dragon announced, you’ll probably be wondering where you can watch the upcoming seasons and previous ones.
We know the Max app will be bundled with Sky for Sky TV subscribers, as well as being “ingested” as a bundle with the NOW Entertainment membership service from April 2026 onwards. Up until then, you’ll be able to series such as House of the Dragon, The Last of Us, and The White Lotus through your Sky subscription.
Once the new deal comes into effect, WBD’s shows and movies will become available through the HBO Max app, so you will likely need a HBO Max account to access them but this can be set up through Sky in the same way as you can do with Paramount+.
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We know that the upcoming Harry Potter series will be exclusive to the HBO Max app, and other HBO and Max Originals such as The Pitt will also only be available on Max.
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In the response we received from Sky, the Friends TV series was mentioned as being part of this deal. Considering that it’s been available on Netflix for several years now, it’ll be leaving the Netflix app at the end of 2025. But will it be back on Netflix if the streaming service succeeds in its bid to buy Warner Bros.?
What does this mean for Sky Atlantic?
We’ve asked about the future of the Sky Atlantic channel as well as the standalone Discovery+ app and will update once we have a response.
The former will apparently keep running as is, and you’ll be able to watch HBO content on Sky Atlantic for the forseeable future.
We’re less certain about the Discovery+ app. Given that the Disovery+ app was migrated earlier in 2025 to run on the same platfom as HBO Max in the US and Canada, might the same happen once the HBO Max app rolls out in the UK?
That might depend on who owns Warner Bros.
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What’s going on with the Warner Bros. Discovery sale?
Warner Bros. Discovery is currently up for sale with Paramount Skydance, Netflix and Comcast all vying for control over the media company. Whoever buys it will have significant ramifications for HBO Max and the film industry as a whole.
If Netflix wins, it’s almost certain that the content on HBO Max will be rolled into the Netflix app, and it will the main destination for the new Harry Potter TV series. You’re likely to see far fewer film releases from Warner Bros. if Netflix’s current plans are any indication.
Paramount Skydance are interested in absorbing the entire company, and would look to absorb HBO Max with their own Paramount+ app. Does that mean the HBO Max brand name will disappear and Paramount+ become its new home? Perhaps, but HBO Max has stronger branding that Paramount+ has ever had.
With Comcast, who won Universal Studios and Sky, the expectation is that Warner Bros. film and TV studios will be integrated with the company’s existing studios, perhaps as it’s own entity (similar to 20th Century Studios with Disney) or even full absorbed. And not much would change with regards to Sky’s relationship to Warner Bros. We think it’s likely that with this option, the HBO Max stands a good chance of surviving.
in either case, in a year from now the HBO Max might not even exist. And we don’t think that’d be good for consumers, in respect to choice or pricing. As we’ve seen, streaming is only getting more expensive and this acquisition of Warner Bros. would only accelerate that.
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How much will the HBO Max app cost in the UK?
There has been no mention of price as yet for the UK, but we suspect pricing for the standalone app will be in line with the US pricing which currently is:
- HBO Max with Ads: $9.99 per month / $99.99 per year
- HBO Max Ad-free: $15.99 per month / $169.99 per year
- HBO Max Ultimate Ad-free: $19.99 per month / $199.99 per year
We expect pricing for HBO Max in the UK to be announced closer to its launch date in March 2026.
