As Warner Bros. Discovery‘s streaming service Max celebrates its Australian debut, CEO and president of global streaming and games JB Perrette is clear about the company’s strategic vision: build a global streaming powerhouse that marries premium international content with compelling local storytelling.
“We believe that the winners in this streaming game are going to be big-scaled, global players, of which we believe we absolutely will be one of them,” Perrette tells Variety. “In order to get there, we have to have Max rolled out around the world.”
The March 30 Australian launch represents the latest milestone in Max’s global expansion, with Turkey set to follow on April 15. These launches continue the platform’s international growth since its May 2023 U.S. debut, representing significant markets in Warner Bros. Discovery’s global strategy.
The company expects to attract “millions of subscribers” in Australia, leveraging a partnership with Foxtel that provides immediate access to a subscriber base already familiar with WBD’s content. This follows similar distribution partnerships in Europe with companies like Canal+ in France, Sky in the U.K. and Telefonica in Spain, evolving “legacy traditional content licensing partnerships into Max distribution partnerships,” according to Perrette.
In Turkey, Max will transform BluTV, a platform Warner Bros. Discovery previously invested in, while preserving its local Turkish dramas and content. The Turkish launch will make Max available in its 77th territory globally, with the service now boasting 116.9 million subscribers after adding 6.4 million in Q4 2024.
While Max initially launched in the U.S. with the tagline “the one to watch” — suggesting a generalist, family-first approach — Perrette reveals the company has refined its positioning based on consumer feedback and data analysis.
“We pretty quickly realized that this ‘one to watch’ tagline that we came out with was actually not what consumers were asking of us, because they have lots of volume of content available to them through a number of other services,” he explains.
Instead, customers wanted “something differentiated and more premium.” This doesn’t mean exclusively HBO content, but programming that stands out “by its quality, not just by volume.”
“We don’t believe more is better. We actually believe better is better,” Perrette says, highlighting the company’s new Australian tagline: “All killer. No filler.”
This approach positions Max as an “add-on service” focused on delivering culture-defining, conversation-starting content rather than competing on sheer volume. “We pride ourselves on each of the stories we tell, each of the characters we follow… something that is of higher quality,” he says.
A key component of Perrette’s global expansion strategy involves balancing international content with local programming. “We firmly believe that the winners over the longer term in the streaming game are going to be people who have great international and global stories married up with great local stories and characters,” he says.
Pointing to existing Australian productions like “Aussie Gold Hunters” as examples of “great local storytelling” that can travel globally, Perrette notes these shows demonstrate a content philosophy that transcends the streaming era. “The phenomenon of telling great local stories around the world is something that both Warner and the legacy Discovery companies have been doing for decades, just in a different medium, which is linear networks,” he says.
Similarly, in Turkey, the company will leverage BluTV’s local content production while expanding it with Max’s international offerings.
Looking ahead, Perrette sees bundling as key to Max’s growth. “The general idea of paying one price and getting access to a broad set of content is enormously appealing to customers,” he says, citing the success of Disney’s bundle with Disney+, Hulu and Max in the U.S., which has shown “very low churn and very high lifetime value.”
While current bundling efforts focus on partnerships with other video services, Perrette acknowledges the possibility of expanding into other entertainment areas. “Over time, could we explore bundling outside of traditional video and going into games or music or other things?” he says. “Sure, that’s always a possibility.”
With Warner Bros. Discovery’s games portfolio, the company is “somewhat uniquely positioned” to explore such initiatives, because they have a lot of games assets, though Perrette emphasizes they remain “very focused on continuing to make the video experience as rich as possible.”
As Max continues its global expansion, Perrette says markets are carefully selected based on engineering bandwidth, content license availability and profitability potential. “We said from the beginning that we would look to launch Max in markets where, within three to five years from launch, we thought we could be profitable and a top market player,” he explains.
For now, some territories remain licensing-only markets. When asked about India, Perrette points to market challenges: “We have a hard time still looking at that market, understanding how we can make money versus just licensing our content. At the moment, we’re continuing to license our content in that market.”
