Warner Bros Discovery puts HBO Max India launch on indefinite hold

Warner Bros Discovery has put the plans to launch popular American subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service HBO Max in India on hold, even as the company is looking at cost-cutting measures globally and working on merging Discovery+ with HBO Max in the existing markets.

The move has prompted the India content head of HBO Max, Saugata Mukherjee, to quit within one year of joining.

“There is no clarity on what Warner Bros Discovery is planning around HBO Max in India. Earlier, the plan was to launch in 1-2 years and the content team had started working on some great projects. Now they are not even sure if they will launch a service in India,” said a senior executive with direct knowledge of the developments. “All we were told is that it will not launch till the end of 2024. In a fast-changing OTT world, two-years is a very long time.”