HBO Max removes content and cancels original productions in many European countries

Warner Media’s service is one of the services that has grown the most in the last year, and despite the good numbers, it does not hesitate to act as the older sister of the business: it begins to cancel original productions due to lack of success.

Warner Bros. Discovery’s post-merger growth woes and a $3 billion savings target are weighing on its European programming strategy, Variety reveals. And this is especially hard because HBO Max has grown like no other.

As the media conglomerate looks to redefine its streaming priorities, will stop producing originals for HBO Max in the Nordic countries (Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland), Central Europe, the Netherlands and Turkey, and will also remove some content from its platform.

“Our commitment to these markets has not changed. We will continue to order local content for Warner Bros. Discovery in these regions and remain a significant purchaser of local third-party content.“, they explain in a statement. Everything changes.

The news, which was shared with staff and producing partners on Monday morning, is a blow to the European community as well as the HBO Max team in Europe. And Variety has been the first to share it.

Some of the streaming service’s most lauded international shows to date, including Swedish sex comedy Lust and Danish family drama KamikazeThey come from the Nordic countries.

While original development will stop immediately in the aforementioned territories, shows already in production will continue. However, some of these shows could be sold to other platforms, providing WBD with more leasing opportunities.

As part of the restructuring, some European and some American original series will also leave HBO Max globally. The Hungarian drama “The Informant”, as well as “Lust” and “Kamikaze” will be withdrawn from the service.

Two territories that are spared from the review are Spain and France, where the originals will not be affected. This is due to the fact that Spanish-language content works well on HBO Max, which has a large footprint in Latin America, and also serves the US Hispanic market.

The news will undoubtedly have great repercussions throughout Europe, where the production sector had accepted the new opportunities custom announced by new streaming companies.

The HBO team, in particular, has earned the respect of local producers thanks to its long history of expanding European originals for the legacy brand.