Sky has extended its UK and Ireland deal with HBO to cover customers in Germany, Austria and Italy in its first major pan-European content deal covering all five territories.
The deal means Sky will have exclusive first-run rights to broadcast shows such as Game of Thrones and True Detective to 21 million Sky subscribers across Europe until 2020. The company said where possible programmes will air at the same time as in the US.
HBO shows will run on the broadcaster’s Sky Atlantic channel, and customers will also be able to access older HBO series via the company’s on-demand services such as Now TV.
Forthcoming HBO shows which will be available on Sky include Martin Scorsese’s music industry series Vinyl, film remake Westworld and a co-production with HBO and French broadcaster Canal+, The Young Pope.
Sky content managing director Gary Davey said: “This new agreement, Sky’s first pan-European content deal, confirms Sky Atlantic as the home of HBO in all our markets both live and on demand. Sky and HBO share many common values, as well as a passion for high-quality television like Game of Thrones and Veep. Our partnership, in its sixth year, now escalates to a whole new level.”
Sky completed a takeover of its joint ventures Sky Deutchland and Sky Italia in November in a £6.88bn deal, and rebranded from BSkyB.
