HBO Europe is a premium television group of channels by HBO. It is available as a group of film channels and streaming television services in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia, while VOD-only services with original programming are available in Denmark, Finland, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.
The administration of Central European countries and Portugal is headquartered in Budapest, Hungary; meanwhile the Nordic and Spain services operate from Stockholm, Sweden. The company maintains regional offices in Belgrade, Bratislava, Bucharest, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Lisbon, Madrid, Prague, Sofia, Warsaw and Zagreb.
HBO Max, later renamed Max in line with worldwide brand, launched in the Nordic countries and Spain launched on October 26, 2021. It was further launched in Central and Southeastern block of countries on March 8, 2022, HBO GO, which was previously offered as a standalone portable service, was likewise replaced by Max (Later renamed back to HBO Max in 2025).
History The first channel was launched in Hungary on September 28, 1991. This was followed in 1994 by the launch in Czech Republic, founding HBO Europe's predecessor under the name HBO Central Europe. In 1995, Walt Disney entered in joint-venture, and in 1996 it was launched in Poland (October 17, 1996), Slovakia (1997), Romania (1998), Moldova (1999), Bulgaria (2002), Croatia, Slovenia (2004), Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro (2006), and North Macedonia (2009).
On September 15, 2003, a new premium channel HBO 2 was launched as the sister channel of HBO. In November 2005, Cinemax and Cinemax 2 started to broadcast, while in 2007 a third channel named HBO Comedy was introduced as well.
Initially HBO Europe was co-owned by HBO, Sony Pictures Entertainment and The Walt Disney Company, but from January 29, 2010 Home Box Office acquired complete ownership in its Central European feeds. Upon the launch of HBO in the Netherlands, HBO Central Europe was renamed HBO Europe in 2012. In 2011 HBO entered the market of streaming services with launching HBO Go's localized Central European version. Following HBO Go's launch, in 2012 HBO Nordic was launched in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland, the first countries where HBO introduced only streaming services without any linear television channels. It was followed by the launch of HBO España in 2016 (the Dutch version was closed in the same year) and HBO Portugal in 2019, both of them being VOD-only services.
Operations Television channels HBO Europe owns premium film channels in its Central European operating area. HBO serves as the flagship channel of the portfolio, while HBO2's programming consists of mainly family-friendly content. Former comedy channel HBO Comedy was rebranded in 2016 as HBO3, a premium channel focusing on television series. Cinemax serves as a mainstream cinema channel, while Cinemax 2 offers art films.
HBO HBO 2 HBO 3 (known as HBO Comedy from 2007–2016) Cinemax Cinemax 2
Streaming services HBO Europe owns streaming services throughout Europe. It has been operating services branded as HBO Go in Central European countries since 2011. Localized subtitles are available in Hungarian, Czech, Romanian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Polish, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian and Macedonian. Localized dubbing and voiceover feeds are available in Hungarian, Czech and Polish usually a week after an original series' episode premieres. HBO Go is the leading streaming service in all of the countries in which it operates - as of August, 2019, it has 5.5 million subscribers throughout Central Europe. Its platform is developed in Budapest.
HBO was launched as a VOD-only brand in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland as HBO Nordic and in Spain as HBO España. Meanwhile, HBO Go is developed in Budapest, Nordic and España services are headquartered in Stockholm.
On August 15, 2012, HBO announced plans to launch HBO Nordic, a multiplatform video distribution service serving Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland that was created through a joint venture with Parsifal International. The video on demand service launched in December 2012. HBO programming also airs in Iceland on Stöð 2. In Spain, HBO programs were previously broadcast on pay television service Canal+, since 2011. In 2016, during the discontinuation of the Canal+ branding in Spain, HBO launched a standalone streaming service called HBO España, which is the Spanish equivalent of HBO Now and HBO Nordic. HBO Europe had announced on multiple occasions that they were not aware that they were going to replace their current service with HBO Max, nor would their rates be increased. However, in December 2020, the head of HBO Max, Andy Forssell, revealed that all HBO services in Europe, including HBO España and HBO Nordic, would be replaced by HBO Max. On October 26, 2021, HBO Max was launched in the Nordics (excluding Iceland) and Spain.
In 2019, HBO's streaming service was also introduced in Portugal as HBO Portugal. Despite the fact that it is not branded as HBO Go, it uses the Central European platform.
In the 2010s, HBO Europe launched the streaming service HBO Go in 13 countries in Central and Eastern Europe. HBO programs in Portugal were previously broadcast on premium television channel TVSéries from the services of TVCine, since 2015. In 2019, less than a year before the discontinuation of TVSéries, HBO Europe launched a standalone streaming service called HBO Portugal. Similar to the Nordics and Spain, HBO Max was launched in Portugal and Central and Eastern Europe on March 8, 2022, replacing HBO Go and HBO Portugal.
Original programming Croatia Title Genre Premiere Seasons Runtime Status Network Uspjeh Crime drama January 6, 2019 Ended HBO Europe
Czech Republic Title Genre Premiere Seasons Runtime Status Network Na stojáka Stand-up comedy 2006 Ended HBO Europe Terapie Drama October 9, 2011 Ended HBO Europe Burning Bush Drama/Biopic January 27, 2013 Miniseries HBO Europe Až po uši Romance/Drama/Comedy November 2, 2014 Ended HBO Europe Mamon Crime thriller October 25, 2015 Miniseries HBO Europe Wasteland Drama/Mystery October 30, 2016 Miniseries HBO Europe The Sleepers Drama November 17, 2019 Miniseries HBO Europe Czech It Out! Docuseries April 1, 2022 Miniseries HBO Max
Denmark Title Genre Premiere Seasons Runtime Status Network Kamikaze Young adult thriller drama November 14, 2021 Ended HBO Max
Finland Title Genre Premiere Seasons Runtime Status Network Eristyksissä Anthology July 19, 2020 Miniseries HBO Nordic
Hungary Title Genre Premiere Seasons Runtime Status Network Born Loser Drama November 2, 2007 Ended HBO Europe In Treatment Hungary Drama October 22, 2012 Ended HBO Europe When Shall We Kiss? Comedy drama October 23, 2013 Ended HBO Europe Golden Life Crime drama November 8, 2015 Ended HBO Europe The Informant Crime drama April 1, 2022 Moved HBO Max The Bridge Hungary Reality competition August 11, 2023 Ended HBO Max Pogány Induló − What Would Mom Say Docuseries November 28, 2025 TBA Miniseries HBO Max
Norway Title Genre Premiere Seasons Runtime Status Network Beforeigners Crime drama/Science fiction August 21, 2019 Ended Outlier Crime drama November 18, 2020 Ended HBO Nordic Utmark Comedy drama April 18, 2021 Ended HBO Nordic
Poland Title Genre Premiere Seasons Runtime Status Network Bez tajemnic Psychological thriller October 17, 2011 Ended HBO Europe Wataha Crime thriller October 12, 2014 Ended HBO Europe The Pact Detective/Crime thriller November 8, 2015 Ended HBO Europe Blinded by the Lights Crime thriller October 27, 2018 Miniseries HBO Europe W domu Anthology July 16, 2020 Miniseries HBO Europe A Decent Man Drama March 21, 2025 Ended HBO Max Heaven Drama December 26, 2025 Pending HBO Max Women's Hell Drama March 6, 2026 Pending HBO Max Proud Drama June 12, 2026 Pending HBO Max
Romania Title Genre Premiere Seasons Runtime Status Network Rămâi cu mine Drama December 1, 2013 Miniseries HBO Europe Umbre Crime drama December 28, 2014 Ended HBO Europe The Silent Valley Crime drama/Action Miniseries HBO Europe Hackerville Crime drama October 21, 2018 Miniseries HBO EuropeTNT Serie Tuff Money Comedy drama November 22, 2020 Ended HBO Europe Ruxx Comedy drama March 8, 2022 Ended HBO Max One True Singer Reality competition April 1, 2022 Ended HBO Max Spy/Master Drama/Crime thriller May 19, 2023 Miniseries HBO Max
Spain Title Genre Premiere Seasons Runtime Status Network The Pioneer Docuseries July 7, 2019 Miniseries HBO Europe Foodie Love Romantic comedy December 4, 2019 Ended HBO Europe En casa Anthology June 3, 2020 Miniseries HBO Europe One Way or Another Comedy July 22, 2020 Ended HBO Europe Stage 0 Anthology September 13, 2020 Miniseries HBO Europe Patria Historical drama September 27, 2020 Miniseries HBO Europe 30 Coins Mystery horror November 29, 2020 Ended HBO Europe
Sweden Title Genre Premiere Seasons Runtime Status Network Gösta Comedy July 1, 2019 Ended HBO Nordic Beartown Drama October 18, 2020 Ended HBO Nordic Pray, Obey, Kill Docuseries April 4, 2021 Miniseries HBO Nordic Lust Sex comedy March 18, 2022 Ended HBO Max
Original documentaries Hungary A Pierre Woodman-sztori (2009) Miss Plastic – A szikék szépe (2009) Láthatatlan húrok – A tehetséges Pusker nővérek (2010) Romazsaruk (2010) Varázslatos gladiátorok (2011) Egyéletes kaland (2011) Két világ közt (2011) Fehér kard (2012) Overdose: Vágta egy álomért (2013) Szerelempatak (2014) Reményvasút (2015) Seb (2015) Ütős csajok (2016) Ultra (2017) Csillagfény távolság (2019) Visszatérés Epipóba (2020) Anyáim története (2020) Dívák (2021) Cabin Pressure - Anya leszek csak azért is! (2025)
References
External links Official HBO Europe Website (Archived via Wayback Machine)