HBO Europe

Last updated
HBO Europe
HBO Europe logo.png
Broadcast areaHungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Moldova, Portugal, Spain, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway
Headquarters Budapest, Hungary (Central Europe & Portugal)
Stockholm, Sweden (Nordic countries and Spain)
Prague, Czech Republic (original programming)
Ownership
Owner Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA
Parent Home Box Office, Inc.
Sister channels HBO 2
HBO 3
Cinemax
Cinemax 2
History
LaunchedSeptember 28, 1991
Links
Website hbo-europe.com (Archived via Wayback Machine)

HBO Europe is a premium television group of channels by HBO. It is available as a group of film channels and streaming television services in Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia and Moldova while VOD-only services with original programming is available in Spain, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Portugal.

Contents

The administration of Central European countries and Portugal is headquartered in Budapest, Hungary; meanwhile the Nordic and Spain services operate from Stockholm, Sweden. HBO Europe has offices also in Prague, Belgrade, Bratislava, Bucharest, Zagreb, Lisbon, Madrid, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Sofia and Warsaw.

HBO Max has replaced HBO GO in Europe. It was launched in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Moldova, Portugal and Poland on March 8, 2022, [1] while in Spain, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Sweden, it was launched on October 26, 2021. [2]

History

The first channel was launched in Hungary on September 28, 1991. [3] This was followed in 1994 by the launch in Czech Republic, [4] founding HBO Europe's predecessor under the name HBO Central Europe. In 1995 Walt Disney entered in joint-venture, and in 1996 it was launched in Poland (October 17, 1996), [5] [6] Slovakia (1997), Romania (1998), Moldova (1999), Bulgaria (2002), Croatia, Slovenia (2004), [3] Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro (2006) and North Macedonia (2009).

In September 15, 2003, a new premium channel HBO 2 was launched as the sister channel of HBO. [7] In November 2005, Cinemax and Cinemax 2 started to broadcast, while in 2007 a third channel named HBO Comedy was introduced as well. [8] [9]

Initially HBO Europe was co-owned by HBO, Sony Pictures Entertainment and The Walt Disney Company, but from January 29, 2010 Home Box Office acquired complete ownership in its Central European feeds. [10] Upon the launch of HBO in the Netherlands, HBO Central Europe was renamed HBO Europe in 2012. In 2011 HBO entered the market of streaming services with launching HBO Go's localized Central European version. Following HBO Go's launch, in 2012 HBO Nordic was launched in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland, the first countries where HBO introduced only streaming services without any linear television channels. It was followed by the launch of HBO España in 2016 (the Dutch version was closed in the same year) and HBO Portugal in 2019, both of them being VOD-only services.

Operations

Television channels

HBO Europe owns premium film channels in its Central European operating area. HBO serves as the flagship channel of the portfolio, while HBO2's programming consists of mainly family-friendly content. Former comedy channel HBO Comedy was rebranded in 2016 as HBO3, a premium channel focusing on television series. Cinemax serves as a mainstream cinema channel, while Cinemax 2 offers art films.

Streaming services

HBO Europe owns streaming services throughout Europe. It has been operating services branded as HBO Go in Central European countries since 2011. Localized subtitles are available in Hungarian, Czech, Romanian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Polish, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian and Macedonian. Localized dubbing and voiceover feeds are available in Hungarian, Czech and Polish usually a week after an original series' episode premieres. HBO Go is the leading streaming service in all of the countries in which it operates - as of August, 2019, it has 5.5 million subscribers throughout Central Europe. Its platform is developed in Budapest.

HBO was launched as a VOD-only brand in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland as HBO Nordic and in Spain as HBO España. Meanwhile, HBO Go is developed in Budapest, Nordic and España services are headquartered in Stockholm.

On August 15, 2012, HBO announced plans to launch HBO Nordic, a multiplatform video distribution service serving Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland that was created through a joint venture with Parsifal International. [11] [12] The video on demand service launched in December 2012. HBO programming also airs in Iceland on Stöð 2. [13] In Spain, HBO programs were previously broadcast on pay television service Canal+, since 2011. [14] In 2016, during the discontinuation of the Canal+ branding in Spain, HBO launched a standalone streaming service called HBO España, which is the Spanish equivalent of HBO Now and HBO Nordic. HBO Europe had announced on multiple occasions that they were not aware that they were going to replace their current service with HBO Max, nor would their rates be increased. [15] However, in December 2020, the head of HBO Max, Andy Forssell, revealed that all HBO services in Europe, including HBO España and HBO Nordic, would be replaced by HBO Max. On October 26, 2021, HBO Max was launched in the Nordics (excluding Iceland) and Spain. [16]

In 2019, HBO's streaming service was also introduced in Portugal as HBO Portugal. Despite the fact that it is not branded as HBO Go, it uses the Central European platform.

In the 2010s, HBO Europe launched the streaming service HBO Go in 13 countries in Central and Eastern Europe. HBO programs in Portugal were previously broadcast on premium television channel TVSéries from the services of TVCine, since 2015. In 2019, less than a year before the discontinuation of TVSéries, HBO Europe launched a standalone streaming service called HBO Portugal. Similar to the Nordics and Spain, HBO Max was launched in Portugal [17] and Central and Eastern Europe on March 8, 2022, [18] replacing HBO Go and HBO Portugal.

Current programming

Foreign series

Original series

Acquired series

Movie library

HBO premieres movies after 8 months from theatrical release from the following studios:

Original programming

HBO Europe is also one of the largest producer companies for television in Central and Eastern Europe, operating HBO Europe Original Programming Ltd., headquartered in London, producing several local original scripted programming and series based on licensed formats.

Licensed formats include BeTipul (Bez tajemnic, Terapie, Terápia), Small Time Gangster (Umbre), Mammon (Mamon, The Pact) and When Shall We Kiss? (Társas játék, Rămâi cu mine, Až po uši).

Croatia

TitleGenrePremiereSeasonsRuntimeStatus
Uspjeh Crime drama January 6, 20191 season, 6 episodes47–56 min.Ended

Czech Republic

TitleGenrePremiereSeasonsRuntimeStatusNetwork
Na stojáka Stand-up comedy 2006112 episodes30 min.EndedHBO Europe
Terapie Drama October 9, 20113 seasons, 116 episodes21–29 min.EndedHBO Europe
Burning Bush Drama/Biopic January 27, 20133 episodes72–84 min.MiniseriesHBO Europe
Až po uši Romance/Drama/Comedy November 2, 20142 seasons, 23 episodes35 min.EndedHBO Europe
Mamon Crime thriller October 25, 20156 episodes50–58 min.MiniseriesHBO Europe
Wasteland Drama/Mystery October 30, 20168 episodes60 min.MiniseriesHBO Europe
The Sleepers Drama November 17, 20196 episodes60 min.MiniseriesHBO Europe
Czech It Out! Docuseries April 1, 20228 episodes30 min.MiniseriesHBO Max

Hungary

TitleGenrePremiereSeasonsRuntimeStatusNetwork
Terápia Drama October 22, 20123 seasons, 110 episodes25 min.EndedHBO Europe
Társas játék Comedy drama October 23, 20132 seasons, 26 episodes30 min.EndedHBO Europe
Aranyélet Crime drama November 8, 20153 seasons, 24 episodes48–57 min.EndedHBO Europe
The Informant Crime drama April 1, 20221 season, 8 episodes41–46 min.Moved HBO Max

Norway

TitleGenrePremiereSeasonsRuntimeStatusNetwork
Beforeigners Crime drama/Science fiction August 21, 20192 seasons, 12 episodes45–57 min.Ended
Outlier Crime drama November 18, 20201 season, 8 episodes42–45 mins.Ended HBO Nordic

Poland

TitleGenrePremiereSeasonsRuntimeStatusNetwork
Bez tajemnic Psychological thriller October 17, 20113 seasons17–29 min.EndedHBO Europe
Wataha Crime thriller October 12, 20143 seasons55 min.EndedHBO Europe
The Pact Detective/Crime thriller November 8, 20152 seasons60 min.EndedHBO Europe
Blinded by the Lights Crime thriller October 27, 20188 episodes55–60 min.MiniseriesHBO Europe

Romania

TitleGenrePremiereSeasonsRuntimeStatusNetwork
Rămâi cu mine Drama December 1, 20131 season, 13 episodes30 min.MiniseriesHBO Europe
Umbre Crime drama December 28, 20143 seasons, 21 episodes41–59 min.EndedHBO Europe
The Silent Valley Crime drama/Action October 23, 20161 season, 4 episodes59–63 min.MiniseriesHBO Europe
Hackerville Crime drama October 21, 20181 season, 6 episodes53–61 min.MiniseriesHBO Europe
TNT Serie
Tuff Money Comedy drama November 22, 20201 season, 6 episodes43–51 min.EndedHBO Europe
Ruxx Comedy drama March 8, 20221 season, 8 episodes45 min.Ended HBO Max
One True Singer Reality competition April 1, 20221 season, 5 episodes58–90 min.Ended HBO Max
Spy/Master Drama/Crime thriller May 19, 20231 season, 6 episodes50 min.Miniseries HBO Max

Spain

TitleGenrePremiereSeasonsRuntimeStatus
The Pioneer Docuseries July 7, 20191 season, 4 episodes50 min.Miniseries
Foodie Love Romantic comedy December 4, 20191 season, 8 episodes30–45 min.Ended
En Casa Anthology June 3, 20201 season, 5 episodes20–45 min.Miniseries
One Way or Another Comedy July 22, 20201 season, 10 episodes30 min.Ended
Stage 0 Anthology September 13, 20201 season, 6 episodes70 min.Miniseries
Patria Historical drama September 27, 20201 season, 8 episodes50 min.Miniseries
30 Coins Mystery horror November 29, 20201 season, 8 episodes50 min.Renewed [47]

Sweden

TitleGenrePremiereSeasonsRuntimeStatusNetwork
Gösta Comedy July 1, 20191 season, 12 episodes30 min.EndedHBO Europe
Beartown Drama October 18, 20201 season, 5 episodes60 min.EndedHBO Europe
Pray, Obey, Kill Docuseries April 4, 20216 episodes60 min.Miniseries
  • HBO Europe
  • HBO
Lust Sex comedy March 18, 20221 season, 8 episodes25–29 min.Pending HBO Max

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