HBO Max has taken its first step towards India launch with WarnerMedia. On Friday, it has announced that it has appointed Disney all time, old, and expert executive Amit Malhotra as the Managing Director for HBO Max in Southeast Asia and India. Therefore, it is quite simple that Malhotra is currently responsible for HBO Go available in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam – HBO Go will be upgraded to HBO Max in these territories. Malhotra will also help WarnerMedia explore a “potential future launch” in India, the American giant said in its announcement.
Currently, HBO Max has not directly addressed consumer presence in India. While its sister unit HBO shares its name but as a separate entity. It has made a deal with Disney+ Hotstar, HBO Max have not bothered to bring its content to the Southeast Asian market except Justice league Snyder Cut (which was offered via video-on-demand services such as Apple TV, BookMyShow Stream, and Google Play Movies), and Friends: The Reunion (that was sold to the most unlikely of candidates in Zee5). Outside of that, there are a couple of HBO Max movies on video-on-demand.
“I am delighted to be part of the incredible team at WarnerMedia in Asia as we look at bringing HBO Max to this region,” Malhotra said in a prepared statement. WarnerMedia’s brands, including DC Universe, HBO, and Cartoon Network, are highly popular with passionate fans and audiences all over the region. They have said that with a focus on our consumers, it will be our goal to bring all of these brands and content together in an exciting new world-class streaming experience as we move into the future with HBO Max.
Amit Malhotra has spent 17 long years at Disney. He was recently served Disney+ as the regional leader in Southeast Asia earlier. Now, he is doing the same job for WarnerMedia.
Johannes Larcher, international chief for HBO Max, added: “With our upcoming launch across Latin America on June 29 and our plans for Europe on the horizon, we turn our sights toward Asia, where we have an incredible opportunity to bring HBO Max to millions of new fans who are just as excited about streaming as our audiences in the U.S. Amit’s experience launching streaming services in both mature and emerging markets across Southeast Asia and the surrounding region make him the ideal leader to plan and oversee the rollout of HBO Max and its expanded content offering and platform experience.”
HBO Max has already launched in the US last May— it has 40.6 million paid subscribers there since — and soon, it will start its first major expansion later in June in 39 territories across Latin America and the Caribbean. Later in 2021, HBO’s existing streaming services in Europe will be upgraded to HBO Max, a process that will replicate itself later in Southeast Asia. However, the wording for HBO Max’s India launch — “exploring possible opportunities” for a “potential future launch” — suggests we might still be some way off before it arrives here.
