WarnerMedia announced the appointment of Amit Malhotra as Managing Director for HBO Max in Southeast Asia and India.
He will report to Johannes Larcher, Head of HBO Max International, and will be responsible for the rollout and management of WarnerMedia’s direct-to-consumer platform in Southeast Asia, the company said in a statement. In his previous stint, he was the Regional Lead for Disney+ in Southeast Asia.
Streaming platform HBO Max was launched last year in the US and will be available in 61 global markets by the end of 2021.
The company said that Malhotra will immediately assume responsibility for managing HBO GO, WarnerMedia’s existing OTT streaming service available in eight territories across Southeast Asia. “In the future, he will spearhead the introduction of HBO Max in these territories and will lead WarnerMedia’s exploration of future opportunities to launch the streaming platform in additional markets, as well as a potential future launch in India,” the statement added.
Larcher said, “With our upcoming launch across Latin America and our plans for Europe on the horizon, we turn our sights toward Asia, where we have an incredible opportunity to bring HBO Max to millions of new fans who are just as excited about streaming as our audiences in the U.S. Amit’s experience launching streaming services in both mature and emerging markets across Southeast Asia and the surrounding region make him the ideal leader to plan and oversee the rollout of HBO Max and its expanded content offering and platform experience.”
Under Malhotra’s leadership, WarnerMedia expects to launch HBO Max in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam in the future. He will also be responsible for exploring possible opportunities for launching it in India.
Malhotra said, “WarnerMedia’s brands including DC Universe, HBO and Cartoon Network are extremely popular with passionate fans and audiences across this region. With a focus on consumers, our goal will be to bring all of these brands and content together in an exciting new world-class streaming experience as we move into the future with HBO Max.”