Max will no longer produce original series in Europe, except in Spain

HBO Max will cease producing original series in Europe, except in Spain and France. As reported by Variety magazine, Warner is reevaluating its programming strategy in the old continent, which will result in the cancellation of all HBO Max productions in Nordic countries (Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland), central Europe, the Netherlands, and Turkey, in addition to the removal of some series that are already on the platform. To save costs, they will only maintain Spanish and French production.

In the process of combining HBO Max and the Discovery+ service (from the recently merged Discovery company with Warner), this news represents a significant corporate restructuring by Warner. Spain is spared from this shock, where the company is about to release the second seasons of «30 Coins» and «Por H o por B.» Variety points to the ease with which Spanish series are exported to Latin America as the reason for maintaining production here.

Regarding France, where HBO Max has not yet been launched as a platform, Variety assures that Warner Bros. Discovery could not waive the quotas established by the new European Audiovisual Directive for French content. While production will not continue in the rest of the European countries and some of its original series on the platform will be removed, Warner assures Variety that their «commitment to these markets has not changed», and they will continue to invest in exclusive content from third parties.

At the beginning of the year, the major media conglomerate had announced a cost-saving plan of 3 billion dollars in the first 24 months after the merger agreement with Discovery. With cuts translating into layoffs and now investments, this new streaming giant is also altering its strategy after news that Netflix lost subscribers for the first time in its history and after announcing plans to include ads within its business model.

Cover image: promotion of the second season of «30 Coins» – HBO Max