The Discovery-WarnerMedia merger, first announced in May 2021, and having been approved by the European Commission (EC) in December, is expected to close in mid-2022. The deal could create a highly competitive subscription video-on-demand (SVoD) service in existing European markets, in particular the Nordics, where the companies have independently become significant market players.

HBO and Discovery entered the Nordic SVoD market as HBO Nordic in 2013 and Dplay in 2014, with both services relaunching in 2021. HBO Max launched in the Nordics in October 2021 with competitive direct-to-consumer pricing, roughly 20% lower than HBO Nordic, and a new annual subscription providing twelve months access for the price of eight. It also offered a lifetime half-price subscription for customers who signed up by the end of November. Discovery, which acquired the Nordic portion of SBS Broadcasting Group in 2012 and now owns more than ten Nordic TV channels, launched Discovery+ in the region in January 2021 as part of its global rollout.

With a combined 3.2m subscribers across the Nordics in Q3 2021, and little overlap in terms of current subscriber bases and content, there is potential for a joint service that would rival Netflix, Viaplay and Disney+ in terms of market penetration, as well as quantity and diversity of content.