New streaming service from Warner Bros Discovery set to launch in Australia

Sydney Sweeney as Cassie, in the hallway of the high school in a promotional photo for Euphoria season 2
(Image credit: Eddy Chen/HBO Max)

With the proposed merger between streaming services HBO Max and Discovery Plus reportedly underway, a Warner Bros Discovery exec has revealed plans to bring its new, as-yet-unannounced streaming service to the Asia-Pacific region in 2024.

In exclusive comments made to The Australian, Warner Bros Discovery’s president and managing director of the western Pacific region (China, ANZ, Japan) James Gibbons discussed company plans to bring a new digital subscription platform to Australia following a US rollout later this year.

"We are going to be launching our new streaming service in the US this year," said Gibbons. He continued, "After that we’re going to be rolling that service out in the Asia-Pacific region from the second half of 2024."

What can we expect?

Early rumours suggested that Warner Bros Discovery would be bringing HBO Max to Australia in the near future. However, with the future of HBO Max in the US also unclear, it appears that the new service will instead fulfil the long-rumoured merger of HBO Max and fellow streaming platform Discovery Plus.

"The first order of business is to really combine those services (HBO Max and Discovery Plus) and make one ‘uber’ service that can target a wide audience," said Gibbons.

Of course, how this will effect Australia's current HBO licence holder the Foxtel Group remains to be seen. This past February, the Foxtel Group entered a multi-year deal with Warner Bros Discovery, giving Foxtel and Binge exclusive rights to HBO content such as Euphoria (pictured), The Last of Us and The White Lotus in Australia for the foreseeable future.

Obviously a service that combines HBO Max with Discovery Plus would need HBO content in order to be worthwhile, so we suspect some serious negotiations will have to take place in order for this new service to launch in Australia.

In the meantime, here's how you can watch HBO Max shows in Australia.

More from Tom's Guide

Stephen Lambrechts

Stephen Lambrechts is the Managing Editor of Tom's Guide AU and has written professionally across the categories of tech, film, television and gaming for the last 15 years. Before Tom's Guide, he spent several years as a Senior Journalist at TechRadar, had a brief stint as Editor in Chief at Official Xbox Magazine Australia, and has written for such publications as APC, TechLife Australia, T3, FilmInk, AskMen, Daily Telegraph and IGN. He's an expert when it comes to smartphones, TVs, gaming and streaming. In his spare time, he enjoys watching obscure horror movies on physical media, keeping an eye on the latest retro sneaker releases and listening to vinyl. Occasionally, he also indulges in other non-hipster stuff, like hiking.

Read more
Max on a TV screen with a bowl of popcorn
Max just gave customers a massive free upgrade — here's what's coming
Fox News and Fox Sports logos side by side
Fox just announced a new streaming service — here's what we know
Max streaming service logo on phone with Max logo on a blue background
Max just confirmed major upgrade for millions — here’s what’s new
Venu Sports
Venu Sports just killed by Disney, Fox, Warner Bros. Discovery — here's what it means for you
13 shows like The Office on Netflix, Hulu and other services
The 3 streaming services you absolutely need in 2025 — and you can subscribe to them all for just $27 a month
Hulu + Live TV/Fubo merger
Hulu + Live TV just announced merger with Fubo — what you need to know
Latest in Streaming
Titus Welliver in Bosch Legacy season 3
‘Bosch’ season 3 preview: 5 things to know before the final season on Prime Video
A first look at Amazon's Fallout TV series coming to Prime Video
‘Fallout’ season 3 plans are reportedly being made — while season 2 is still filming
Snow White (Rachel Zegler) holding a bird in a scene from the live-action "Snow White" remake
When is 'Snow White' coming to streaming? Here's our best guess
Ben Mendelsohn in Andor season 2
'Welcome to the Rebellion' — new ‘Andor’ season 2 trailer teases a darker edge
Adam Scott in "Severance," now streaming on Apple TV Plus.
'Severance' season 3 officially greenlit — but I may not watch after that season 2 finale
Robert Pattinson in "Mickey 17" movie (2025)
5 top new movies to stream this week on Netflix, Prime Video and Disney Plus (March 25-31)
Latest in News
Apple Watch Ultra 2
Apple Watch Ultra 3 just tipped for two major upgrades
NYTimes Connections
NYT Connections today hints and answers — Tuesday, March 25 (#653)
Titus Welliver in Bosch Legacy season 3
‘Bosch’ season 3 preview: 5 things to know before the final season on Prime Video
A first look at Amazon's Fallout TV series coming to Prime Video
‘Fallout’ season 3 plans are reportedly being made — while season 2 is still filming
Surface Laptop 7 from the front
Amazon just gave Surface Laptop 7 a 'frequently returned' label — here's what's going on
New emojis with iOS 18.4 beta release.
iOS 18.4 beta brings 8 new emoji to your iPhone — here's all the new options