The first channel was launched in Hungary on September 28, 1991. This was followed 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, Slovakia, Romania, Moldova, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and North Macedonia. In September, 2003 a new premium channel HBO2 was launched as the sister channel of HBO. In November, 2005, Cinemax and Cinemax2 stated to broadcast, while in September, 2007 a third channel named HBO Comedy was introduced as well. 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 and HBO Portugal in 2019, both of them being VOD-only services.
Brands
Television channels
HBO Europe owns premium film channels in its Central European operating area under the names HBO, HBO2, HBO3, Cinemax and Cinemax2. 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 Cinemax2 offers art films.
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, 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 Espana services are headquartered in Stockholm. In 2019, HBO's streaming service was introduced in Portugal as well, as HBO Portugal. Despite it is not branded as HBO Go, it uses the Central European platform.
HBO Europe is also one of the largest producer companies for television in Central and Eastern Europe, operating HBO Europe Original Programming Ltd., headquartered in London, producing several local original scripted programming and series based on licensed formats. Licensed formats include BeTipul, Small Time Gangster, Mammon and When Shall We Kiss?.
