- Sky expands its Warner Bros. Discovery partnership in the UK and Ireland
- Existing content agreement to be extended until early 2026
- Sky and Now customers will get more Max content for free after launch
Max's global rollout is picking up pace as Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) inks a new deal with Sky to expand its content partnership in the UK and Ireland.
The companies' existing deal was due to expire at the end of 2025, but will instead be extended until early 2026 under the new agreement, which is when WBD had previously said it plans to launch in the UK.
After Max debuts as a standalone app in the region (the UK, Germany, and Italy are among the last remaining countries where it hasn't yet launched in Europe), Sky has said that the new partnership will mean that it can bundle the service at no extra cost to subscribers.
This means that Sky and Now customers will get access to Max's ad-supported plan, which includes the ability to stream simultaneously on two devices in Full HD for free when it eventually launches in the UK and Ireland at some point in 2026.
What can Sky and Now customers expect?
For now, Sky and Now customers will continue to see some of the best Max shows and movies, including House of the Dragon, The White Lotus, and The Last of Us, which are available on their streaming apps as usual.
That will change slightly in 2026 when Max finally launches as a standalone app in the UK and Ireland. When this happens, Sky and Now customers will instead have to navigate to a new dedicated section to access HBO and Max Originals.
This will be similar to other Sky packages, which include additional access to the best streaming services like Netflix and Paramount Plus. Most crucially, the deal also means customers will get access to more content for free, including the highly-anticipated Harry Potter reboot.
"This [agreement] will enable Max immediately at launch to be available to millions of passionate video subscribers, and separately be available to the more than 20 million other broadband households in the territories through Max direct to consumer and other partnerships," WBD's Andrew Georgiou said.
