Sky agrees Euro HBO deal

Boardwalk Empire is among the HBO titles included in the deal

European media giant Sky has extended its deal with HBO to allow its operations in Germany, Austria and Italy to offer programming in the same way as in the UK and Ireland.

The arrangement, Sky’s first pan-European content deal following its merger with its European sister broadcasters, will give its drama-skewing network Sky Atlantic exclusive first-run rights to HBO shows until 2020 and provide more of the US cable giant’s shows via on-demand services.

The setup will provide access to HBO’s library including Boardwalk Empire, The Sopranos, Veep, The Newsroom and Girls. It will also allow viewers to download programmes, which will then be available on devices for 30 days and for 48 hours after the start of viewing.

Episodes of current series such as True Detective will also be available to view on catch-up, stacked and available as the series transmits, while shows such as The Young Pope, the first Sky/HBO/Canal+ coproduction, will also be available across territories.

Gary Davey, MD of content at Sky, said the deal, now in its sixth year, “confirms Sky Atlantic as the home of HBO in all our markets both live and on-demand.”