SkyShowtime acquires 21 HBO Max originals from Warner Bros Discovery

Polish SkyShowtime Original series Warszawianka

European streamer SkyShowtime, a joint venture between Comcast and Paramount Global, has acquired 21 HBO Max original series from Warner Bros Discovery (WBD).

The deal, financial details of which were not disclosed, includes exclusive rights across all of Europe to the 21 European originals, spanning 168 episodes of original scripted programming.

Three of the series are brand new and have completed production. Each will have their world premiere on SkyShowtime in 2023, significantly accelerating the company’s entry into original programming.

The new shows, which will be branded as SkyShowtime Originals, include ID (Finland and Sweden), The Winner (Czechia and Slovakia) and Warszawianka (Poland).

Additionally, SkyShowtime will premiere the second season of Por H o Por B (Spain). The first season of Por H o Por B will also be on the service. Premiere dates for these shows will be announced at a later date.

SkyShowtime said it had been a “competitive process” to acquire the series, which include several that recently premiered on HBO Max but will now have their exclusive home on SkyShowtime.

They are Beartown (Sweden), Beforeigners (Norway), Kamikaze (Denmark), Lust (Sweden) and The Informant (Hungary). SkyShowtime will have the option to acquire worldwide rights on any renewed shows as well as the option to order new seasons for several shows.

It comes as WBD looks to monetise its original content rather than keep it on its own streaming services, a strategy that has seen it remove dozens of projects from HBO Max and announce it will license titles to FAST channels in the future.

Meanwhile, major cuts are taking place at the media giant as it pursues around US$3.5bn in savings following the completion of WarnerMedia’s merger with Discovery in April last year.

As well as the nine new and current shows, multiple seasons of 12 series from HBO Max will be available exclusively on SkyShowtime beginning in March 2023.

These titles include: Czech It Out! (Czechia), Foodie Love (Spain), Hackerville (Romania), No Activity (Spain), One True Singer (Romania), Pray, Obey, Kill (Sweden), Ruxx (Romania), Success (Croatia), Todo Lo Otro (Spain), The Sleepers (Czechia), Tuff Money (Romania) and Welcome to Utmark (Norway).

All of the acquired shows will be available to SkyShowtime subscribers across all of its 22 markets.

SkyShowtime, which received regulatory approval in February 2022, continues to build out its programming team across all its markets. In addition to the shows acquired under this deal, SkyShowtime is ramping up its own original programming capabilities.

SkyShowtime first launched last September in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, followed by launches in the Netherlands and Portugal in November. In December, the streaming service launched in France, Germany, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia. SkyShowtime will launch in its remaining markets of Albania, Andorra, Czechia, Hungary, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Spain this quarter.

In addition to local programming, SkyShowtime features exclusive television first-run theatrical films, new and exclusive scripted series, kids and family content and a selection of iconic library titles and box sets from Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon, DreamWorks Animation, Paramount+, Showtime, Sky Studios and Peacock.