Abstract
This chapter draws on the recent academic work on internet-distributed television and SVOD original production to re-examine HBO Europe's production strategy. It positions HBO Europe against a background of competition from Netflix and other transnational players and in terms of the company's place in the regional east-central European industry ecosystem.
More specifically, it asks how HBO Europe's original production executives are reacting to the challenges of the global 'streaming war' and how the changing corporate strategies are reflected in the original content being produced in the region. The first part of this chapter examines HBO Europe's evolving business strategy and the manner in which this strategy manifests in the service's original programming, using the Czech Republic as a prime example.
The second part of the chapter investigates whether HBO Europe's recent corporate decisions can be understood as a strategic response to the threatening innovations of competitors like Netflix, Amazon and other over-the-top players, who have been building a strong presence across Western Europe and are also expected to make production investments in Central and Eastern European markets, namely Poland, to be followed by the Czech Republic and Hungary. Finally, the chapter proposes an explanation for HBO Europe's competitive strategy vis-a-vis Netflix, based on the ongoing scholarly debates about the globalization of media production.
Expanding and diversifying original local production means HBO must now cultivate close relationships with local cultures, production communities and institutions. This chapter shows that through long-term local embeddedness, HBO is redefining what globalization of media production means.