Sky’s Mantra Is ‘Business as Usual’ After HBO Max Launches in the U.K. Next Year: ‘It’s About Consistency in a Very Volatile Market’

Source: Variety
Category: Entertainment
Originally Published: 2025-12-03
Curated: 2025-12-03 16:19

Though Sky is currently the exclusive home for HBO series like “Succession” and “Game of Thrones” in the U.K., all will change when streaming service HBO Max launches in the region next year. However, during a Content London panel on Wednesday, Sky executive director of scripted originals Meghan Lyvers assured that the company’s strategy will be “business as usual.”

“What we have seen is that the majority of the titles on Sky that have performed and customers have responded to are Sky Originals. That is incredibly fortunate for us in terms of the shows that we’ve been asked from the business and the audiences to continue making,” Lyvers said. “So our mantra is business as usual, which is we’re going to continue our strategy, we’re going to keep making the shows and keep delivering what we have been for the last couple of years.”

Lyvers said that for Sky, it’s “about consistency in a very volatile, ever-changing market,” and added that her team is actually looking to grow and produce two tentpole series a year instead of one. “That’s a big lift in terms of those types of shows and the big scale of those series,” she continued. “So we’ve been making inroads in that and will be talking about that more in the early new year.”

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Through an expanded agreement announced last year, HBO content will still be available to watch on Sky for free even after HBO Max’s U.K. and Ireland launch — which doesn’t yet have a date — though obviously it will no longer be its exclusive home. Lyvers is optimistic about the situation, saying that another platform launching in the market will be a positive thing.

“I fundamentally believe that if we’re all putting out great content, it keeps the bar high in terms of the storytelling. Because, ultimately, that is what we’re all chasing, which is excellence and ambition and delivering to audiences here something that is unrivaled,” Lyvers said. “The U.K. has, for the last year or so, put out extraordinary content, so that I welcome. Again, HBO’s content will be available on Sky on the platform for free when the service does launch here in the spring. But we’re staying the course, and it’s paying off.”

HBO and Sky are also continuing to work together from a co-production standpoint, with George McKay’s upcoming legal thriller “War” set up at both broadcasters and already renewed for two seasons. “They’ve been wonderful partners on that show and we just saw a cut this week,” Lyvers said. “So these are U.K. stories, and we’re not designing them to be for the world, but they are finding partners and homes.”

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