Almost exactly five years ago, AT&T-owned WarnerMedia was said to be exploring a sale of its HBO Europe division, with Comcast-owned Sky positioned as the frontrunner to acquire the studio and streaming assets. That rumor was shot down by WarnerMedia leadership as being patently false, but now, under the merged direction of Warner Bros Discovery, the rebranded Max streaming service is set to make its mark on Europe from May 2024. The thing is, a sale to Comcast in 2019 was probably the right thing to do as far as reducing debt was concerned. A series of branding massacres and merger fiascos later – incorporating the discovery+ platform – and WBD has come up with a global streaming strategy built…