HBO Max Streaming Service Confirms UK Launch and Prices for 26th March 2026
The popular American TV and Movie streaming service, HBO Max, has today confirmed that it will finally go live in the UK and Ireland on 26th March 2026. Customers of Sky TV with access to the Sky Atlantic channel will also be carrying the content (here) and so will Amazon Prime, but others will now be able to subscribe directly.
Historically, if you wanted to watch HBO’s content in the UK (e.g. “It: Welcome to Derry,” “House of the Dragon,” “The Last of Us” etc.), then you would have had to pay for access via different platforms and channels, such as Sky TV (inc. NOW TV). But the new service also makes the content directly accessible, although this does come at a cost – starting at £5.99 per month in the UK & Ireland.
The service will include content from all of HBO, Warner Bros. Pictures, Warner Bros. Television, DC Studios and Max Originals. Sports fans will also be able to access their TNT Sports streaming subscription via the same platform, but you’ll pay £30.99 per month for that.
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In addition, Amazon’s Prime Video service has also been named as a launch partner for the service, although no further details were provided. Otherwise, HBO Max will be available on all major devices including TVs, set-top boxes, streaming devices, mobiles, tablets, game consoles and platforms including Android, EE / BT TV, Fire TV, iOS, LG, PlayStation, Roku, Samsung, Virgin TV and Xbox.
Subscribers will be able to create up to five personalised profiles, receive tailored recommendations and enjoy features like Continue Watching and, depending on your plan, offline downloads. Families will also be able to set up kid-friendly profiles with age-appropriate content and parental controls. HBO Max will be available for pre-registration on the App Store and Google Play beginning 12th March.
HBO Max Service Prices and Features
Basic with Ads (£4.99/month)
Stream on 2 devices at once
Full HD video resolution
Not all movies included
Standard with Ads (£5.99/month)
Stream on 2 devices at once
Full HD video resolution
30 downloads (limits apply)
Standard (£9.99/month)
Stream on 2 devices at once
Full HD video resolution
30 downloads (limits apply)
Premium (£14.99/month)
Stream on 4 devices at once
4K UHD & Dolby Atmos as available
100 downloads (limits apply)
TNT Sports (£30.99/month)
Stream on 2 devices at once
4K UHD & Dolby Atmos as available
Live football, rugby, tennis, and more in 2026
Whether or not UK consumers will appreciate having to pay for yet another streaming service, which further fragments their access to content, is of course another matter. The risk is that these increasingly high levels of content fragmentation between platforms and ever higher prices will push those who can least afford it back toward copyright infringement.
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
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No thanks far too many subscriptions out there now. It’s all about money grabbing!
Actually, Sky (bskyb) was the one “money grabbing” for decades with their (now expired) exclusive rights to HBO content.
Yeah we’re really desperate for another paid streaming service.
Terms here https://www.hbomax.com/terms-of-use/en-uk-emea?
Can anyone confirm what is happening to Discovery+? According to the TNT press release it says “For existing customers, to keep streaming TNT Sports, simply download the HBO Max app, or go to HBOMax.com, and sign in using existing discovery+ login details.”
Does this mean Discovery+ stays in parallel or it folds into HBO Max?
There is an existing strategy to reorganise the Warner Bros Group, which places Discovery+ as part of the Networks business, while HBO Max would be part of the “Streaming and Studios” business.
Warner Bros is, however, subject to a takeover battle which may run for a year or more. The Paramount camp is seeking to prevent the restructuring via the shareholders. Netflix, on the other hand, is not interested in the Networks’ business, only the “Streaming and Studios” business, which includes HBO Max.
We will not know how the services will be distributed until there is a winner in the takeover bid.
I think I will give it a miss, I am okay with ITVx and amazon, with a bit of You tube. Oh, yeah and maybe Channel4 and 5 now and again.
I certainly would not pay £30 a month for sport, even if I liked it.
Oh yes, it will certainly move some people to pirating stuff.
Have you seen the new show? It’s on Tubu. It’s literally on Heebee. It’s on Poodee with ads. It’s literally on Dippy. You can probably find it on Weeno. Dude it’s on Gumpy. It’s a Pheebo original. It’s on Poob. You can watch it on Poob. You can go to Poob and watch it. Log onto Poob right now. Go to Poob. Dive into Poob. You can Poob it. It’s on Poob. Poob has it for you. Poob has it for you.
I want to watch The Pitt which for some reason has not yet appeared on NOW TV. It’s a bit confusing as to what is going to happen with HBO content on NOW/Sky. If our package is UHD/ad-free will we continue to get all existing HBO content plus missing content in UHD and ad free or will it all be downgraded to HD with ads? NOW TV’s entertainment package is going to look pretty thin if it’s the latter and seriously diminish the value of the boost add-on. Oh well I’m sure they’ll send an email soon!
I’m going be livid if it’s just the add based HD tier when I pay sky extra for ad skipping and UHD. As currently I can watch these titles in UHD via Sky Atlantic, but I fear it will be like Netflix, give the most basic package so the the ability to upgrade.
The UHD pack is literally going to be just for football at this rate.
I believe it was previously mentioned somewhere NOW and Sky subscribers will get Standard with Ads for free.
Sky has agreement with HBO that you will get it included in your now package for free
Same @Ash. The HBO content is 90% of the value of NOW Entertainment and if it suddenly went from UHD/ad free to HD with ads then what’s the point? I’m not paying to watch stuff with ads that’s for sure! It does sound like the movies from HBO Max will additionally require a Sky Cinema subscription and ‘NOW Entertainment’ will be renamed ‘NOW Entertainment and HBOX Max’ and be fully integrated into the NOW TV app. So this does sound hopeful we’ll simply get the content they’ve been holding back such as The Pitt on launch day in full UHD and ad free – fingers crossed!
They’ve announced it is actually BASIC with Ads Sky and Now will get, so 1080p with Ads. Rough.
Yeah it makes sense the Entertainment package alone gets Basic with Ads as that is ad supported anyway. But what has not been ruled in or out is whether the Boost add-on will continue to upgrade the HBO content to UHD and remove ads as it does now. I just find it hard to believe they won’t have negotiated that as, without HBO, NOW Entertainment is a very weak product not worth the discounted price never mind the full retail price. They are still advertising it this way on their website and selling 12 month lock ins on the back of it, could be an issue if they’re going to rug pull…
the pitt will be exclusive to hbo max.
I wonder if Netflix will rip up the Sky deal post merger. While bundled for now, they’ll obviously be competing 3/4 years from now.
Happy that sport is moving from Discovery+, what a wasteland of content that is
Netflix is included with Sky though, so even if they shift the content to Netflix, in theory subscribers should still be able to access it.
This could potentially be better for say Virgin customers who don’t have access to Atlantic.
Of course this could change as I have no doubt Netflix would jack up prices or may even want to drop their existing partnerships.
Although if Paramount wins, I wonder what will happen then? Considering that their service requires Sky Cinema as is.
Fair point, in the interim not much will change for customers.
If Paramount wins, they’ll be a serious competitor, though I’d like to avoid that outcome
@Obi: Sky has a carriage deal with WBD with an end date of 2028 for HBO Max, so Netflix must honour it even if it becomes the new owner. This also means that Virgin Media won’t get the HBO Max app until 2028 at the earliest. After the deal ends Netflix I think will keep HBO Max as standalone for a while but in the medium term integrate some of HBO Max’s content inside Netflix as a premium tier or add‑on.
I suppose this means that despite paying for uhd add on, i will have to pay more to upgrade this.
I have tnt sport but would this give the same as a full tier uhd sub? im reading it doesn’t and just adds tnt to hbo max…
If you currently pay for TNT sport, does the login from discovery + move over to HBO ? Or have to re register/subscribe ?
Not another one. Streaming services are already getting more expensive for various reasons and the idea of having to pay for another one just to keep access to things on other platforms already doesn’t give me any hope for the future of entertainment services.
If you count all services with Sky it’s around £200 a month…