HBO MAX coming to NZ .- Sky to drop HBO Max content from June

Forums › Online streaming services › HBO MAX coming to NZ .- Sky to drop HBO Max content from June

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#3462246 17-Feb-2026 14:33

nztim:

I am so over having to subscribe to so many streaming services for different shows I want to watch, all together they end up costing more than Sky does, it's getting so out of hand.

Do you need to subscribe to them all at once? We just subscribe to one or two at a time and move around for the particular series/movies we're after. e.g. get Disney+ for a while and watch Andor & latest season of The Bear. Then cancel that and get Apple TV and watch watch Ted Lasso, The Studio etc. Then cancel that and get HBO Max and watch latest season White Lotus & House of the Dragon, then Prime and latest Rings of Power, and so on and so on...

There's no need to lock in for long term. Just get what you want, when you want it.

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#3462247 17-Feb-2026 14:38

JPNZ:

davidcole:

So will sky lower their prince now given their catalogue is getting smaller as all these studios take content inhouse?

It won't affect my Sky bill as I only have starter and sport. Will be interesting what happens with Neon.

wasn't hbo a special channel to get GoT etc? ignoring neon.

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#3462250 17-Feb-2026 14:45

davidcole:

wasn't hbo a special channel to get GoT etc? ignoring neon.

HBO was included with Entertainment tier. Old SoHo channel that had additional fee was retired.

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#3462316 17-Feb-2026 20:13

Sky has been at a disadvantage in by using an external box anything going to the TV in HD via HDMI by default has not had overscanning turned off which will hit the picture quality. Streaming apps do not have to contend with that.

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#3462367 17-Feb-2026 20:25

bfginger: Sky has been at a disadvantage in by using an external box anything going to the TV in HD via HDMI by default has not had overscanning turned off which will hit the picture quality. Streaming apps do not have to contend with that.

That surely means all the HDMI connected streaming boxes like Google Chromecast and Google TV Streamer, Amazon Firestick, etc, have the same problem with HD content. Surely that can't be an issue?

loceff13

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#3462372 17-Feb-2026 20:35

nztim:

I am so over having to subscribe to so many streaming services for different shows I want to watch, all together they end up costing more than Sky does, it's getting so out of hand.

People tend to forget that SKY is cheap now compared to what it used to cost, in 2008 it was $75-95/mo depending if you added sport/movies etc. Thats $145-183/mo today when you consider inflation. Right now they offer similar for $80/mo for new customers for 12 months then $121/mo.

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richms

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#3462381 17-Feb-2026 21:39

bfginger:

Sky has been at a disadvantage in by using an external box anything going to the TV in HD via HDMI by default has not had overscanning turned off which will hit the picture quality. Streaming apps do not have to contend with that.

They also dont have to contend with the HDMI refresh rate not matching the source material because so many box vendors think that blanking out to change it is worse than constant judder as 25 FPS legacy pal content is pushed over a 60Hz connection and the TV is trying to process it as if it was 24FPS.

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MikeAqua

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#3462484 18-Feb-2026 08:46

loceff13:

People tend to forget that SKY is cheap now compared to what it used to cost, in 2008 it was $75-95/mo depending if you added sport/movies etc. Thats $145-183/mo today when you consider inflation. Right now they offer similar for $80/mo for new customers for 12 months then $121/mo.

It still too much for me. Most channels that interest me are unwatchable due to advert frequency. I'm only really interest in Otago or ABs rugby, and international cricket

Mike

JPNZ

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#3462497 18-Feb-2026 09:42

MikeAqua:

I'm only really interest in Otago or ABs rugby, and international cricket

How do you watch those things currently?

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#3462499 18-Feb-2026 09:53

Interesting thoughts from NZH Today, which I'm not going to copy and paste all of it but basically SKY UK are offering a streaming bundle featuring Disney+, HBO Max, Netflix and Hayu (a reality TV platform available here for NZ$9.99 a month) in a single Sky TV subscription, starting at £24 (NZ54.20) a month for a two-year fixed-term contract.

Streamers are being open to aggregation, and pundits think Sky NZ will follow suit (I know they already have close ties to Disney in NZ). Will be interesting to see how that pans out

"I expect Sky to pursue similar bundling deals here. To do that properly will require one interface that surfaces shows and movies from multiple streamers and channel partners, something that smart TV makers have attempted to do, but which is clunky because they don’t own the billing relationship with the customer. Sky does. We need unified search, recommendation and parental controls across services, with bundled pricing that removes the chaos of streaming. The irony is that the strategy Sky now needs is the one it executed brilliantly in the 1990s and 2000s, but with a higher level of technical complexity, which Sky might struggle with given its track record on the tech front. Be the place to watch TV, make it easy. Own the relationship. In a chaotic streaming landscape, finally being forced to care about profit might be the most valuable position of all."

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#3462550 18-Feb-2026 11:12

Sky is a slow death and this move could be a death blow to Neon. I have also noticed that Netflix and Disney are picking up more British content which I like. Netflix also has the local show Brokenwood Mysteries which is excellent.

Here is a crazy notion, lets give peace a chance.

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#3462555 18-Feb-2026 11:47

JPNZ:

Interesting thoughts from NZH Today, which I'm not going to copy and paste all of it but basically SKY UK are offering a streaming bundle featuring Disney+, HBO Max, Netflix and Hayu (a reality TV platform available here for NZ$9.99 a month) in a single Sky TV subscription, starting at £24 (NZ54.20) a month for a two-year fixed-term contract.

Streamers are being open to aggregation, and pundits think Sky NZ will follow suit (I know they already have close ties to Disney in NZ). Will be interesting to see how that pans out

"I expect Sky to pursue similar bundling deals here. To do that properly will require one interface that surfaces shows and movies from multiple streamers and channel partners, something that smart TV makers have attempted to do, but which is clunky because they don’t own the billing relationship with the customer. Sky does. We need unified search, recommendation and parental controls across services, with bundled pricing that removes the chaos of streaming. The irony is that the strategy Sky now needs is the one it executed brilliantly in the 1990s and 2000s, but with a higher level of technical complexity, which Sky might struggle with given its track record on the tech front. Be the place to watch TV, make it easy. Own the relationship. In a chaotic streaming landscape, finally being forced to care about profit might be the most valuable position of all."

having the services bundled with your sky bill potentially means you can't segregate between them and will be paying for all throughout the year. parental control is a set-and-forget config item. not sure why that is an issue.

while a unified search will be handy, i have to say i don't like what Prime Video has now. for instance, it shows you a bunch of new/newish content, over half of which require a sub-subscription. i personally would rather not see them, if i'm not entitled to them - they just clutter the screen.

i think the sticking point would be more on the technical side. i haven't checked lately, but in the couple of times over the years that i got neon tv as a freebie and the experience sucked, with the lack of surround sound. no 4K UHD then either. this could have improved by now, but until then, it'll be a struggle.

and the adverts... usually the same sky promo over and over during a program.

Handsomedan

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#3462563 18-Feb-2026 12:42

Depending on pricing, this could replace Neon for me as the only reason I have it is for HBO content.
Goodbye Neon from June, I guess.

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#3462571 18-Feb-2026 13:04

Hopefully we get a similar platform as HBO Max from US, 4k HDR/Dolby Vision and Atmos audio. I didn't invest funds into a 4k projection / 5.2.2 atmos movie room to watch movies in dolby pro logic

richms

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#3462630 18-Feb-2026 13:48

If they are bundled with sky then it makes it harder to turn them on and off as needed. I guess that is why the streamers want to do that. I only have one of them at a time, and thats when there is enough on it that I want to watch on the native player vs webrips I have found elsewhere that always seem to be lower quality.

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