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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
Mark Sweney

HBO Max pins hopes on Friends and Harry Potter to win UK streaming war

Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley, Dominic McLaughlin as Harry Potter and Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger in the new HBO Max Harry Potter series
A lot is also riding on HBO Max’s Harry Potter TV series, which has been brought forward for release from next year to this Christmas. Photograph: Aidan Monaghan/HBO Max/PA

The launch of HBO Max into the increasingly crowded UK television market last week has prompted deals for consumers as former rivals team up amid a slowdown in subscriber growth.

The Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) streaming service hopes a competitive price for direct sign-ups and deals bundling the service through Sky will make it a must-have and not an also-ran, in a British TV ecosystem upended by Netflix 14 years ago.

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