HBO Max Signs Bundling Deal With Streamer RTL+ in Germany
The agreement, which comes as Netflix is negotiating a deal to buy HBO parent Warner Bros. Discovery, will see RTL+ and HBO Max offer both their services under a single subscription in Germany.
Warner Bros. Discovery’s HBO Max has signed a bundling deal with German streaming platform RTL+, which will see the two companies offer their services to local consumers under a single joint subscription.
The deal comes ahead of HBO Max’s official launch in Germany on Jan. 13. The launch will be accompanied by a publicity blitz, including the world premiere of HBO’s new Game of Thrones prequel A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, in Berlin next week.
RTL and HBO are already close collaborators. RTL’s media sales house Ad Alliance handles ad sales for the Warner Bros. Discovery-owned streamer and, last fall, RTL extended its long-standing content partnership with HBO parent Warner Bros. Discovery, licensing an extensive package of WBD and HBO films and series for both RTL’s linear channels and its RTL+ streaming service.
Under the bundling deal, German consumers will be able to subscribe to both RTL+ and HBO Max for €11.99 ($14) per month for the ad-supported version of the two services, or €17.99 ($21) per month for the ad-free option. That compares to around $18 and $33 per month if both services are booked separately.
There is little crossover between the two streamers. RTL+ is a broad appeal operation offering live premium sports (including the UEFA Europa League) and event shows, as well as local-language dramas, films and reality-TV series. HBO Max’s German offering will include its premium series franchises (Game of Thrones, The White Lotus, The Last of Us) and library titles (Sex and the City, Friends) alongside top-tier movie titles from parent Warner Bros. (Sinners, Superman, Weapons).
“RTL+ and HBO Max – that’s a great combination of two terrific content worlds,” gushed RTL Germany CEO Stephan Schmitter. “The most successful national content on RTL+, from reality TV to fiction to sports, in a joint offering with top series, iconic blockbuster movies, and much more from HBO Max. With this bundle, we are igniting the next stage in the success story of RTL+ and preparing HBO Max for its big market launch in Germany.”
HBO’s approach, bundling its premium offering with a broad-reach local-language service, mirrors a similar deal between French broadcaster TF1 and , that will kick off this summer. In an increasingly competitive streaming market, platforms are seeing the benefits of aggregation, creating business models that look a lot like old school cable bundling.