HBO Max will release new episodes of “Industry” and “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” early on Friday, Feb. 6, giving subscribers a head start before the shows’ usual Sunday-night slots collide with Super Bowl weekend. Warner Bros. Discovery said “Industry” Season 4, Episode 5 and “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” Season 1, Episode 4 will drop globally at 12:01 a.m. PT/3:01 a.m. ET. Both episodes will still air on HBO later that weekend, after the Super Bowl, in their customary time periods.
The move reflects a familiar reality for premium TV: Super Bowl Sunday swallows attention. Super Bowl LX kicks off Sunday, Feb. 8 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, with the NFL projecting a full day of onsite programming around the game. By pushing the episodes to Friday, HBO Max avoids asking viewers to choose between a national sports spectacle and scripted television, while keeping the linear schedule intact for traditional Sunday audiences.
For Warner Bros. Discovery, the scheduling tweak also protects two series that anchor its weekly cadence. “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,” adapted from Tales of Dunk and Egg by George R. R. Martin, sits inside the larger Game of Thrones franchise machine. The company has already touted early momentum: it said the series premiere reached 6.7 million U.S. viewers across HBO and HBO Max in its first three days. “Industry,” meanwhile, has become a key piece of HBO’s Sunday brand, and the earlier streaming window gives fans a way to stay current without waiting out a sports-heavy night.
The decision also signals how streamers now treat timing as a product feature. A Friday drop invites social chatter, reduces spoiler anxiety, and keeps subscribers engaged through a weekend when entertainment launches often get buried under football coverage and pregame programming.
