New streaming service SkyShowtime hosted an exclusive European launch event in Amsterdam yesterday night, attended by international celebrities. Hosted in Amsterdam by award winning film journalist and TV personality Alex Zane, the event unveiled the new and exclusive programming that will be premiering on SkyShowtime in the coming months.

The company announced Dec. 14 as the launch date for its first Central and Eastern European markets.

SkyShowtime CEO Monty Sarhan revealed the news during an on-stage appearance at the brand’s official launch event in Amsterdam. The SkyShowtime streaming service, which debuted in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden on Sept. 20, followed by the Netherlands and Portugal on Oct. 25, will become available in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia on Dec. 14.

That will take its reach to 13 of its planned 22 markets, which encompass 90 million homes. It will then expand into Albania, the Czech Republic, Hungary, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania and Slovakia in February 2023. Spain and Andorra are the remaining markets where the streamer will become available during the first quarter of 2023. The streamer and its content will then be available in a total of 18 languages.

“We received regulatory approval in February of this year. Within the space of 12 months, we will have gone live in 20 of our 22 markets, which is really amazing,” Sarhan told The Hollywood Reporter. “When you’re launching something of this magnitude across 22 markets, it helps to stagger those launches to make sure that we get everything right and … that our customers have the best possible experience.”

SkyShowtime isn’t disclosing its subscriber count, but its CEO is happy with its traction so far. “What I can tell you is that we have blown past our internal projections in every single market,” Sahar said. “We are pacing well ahead of what we expected.”

Discussing the Amsterdam launch event, he said a key goal was “to tell our story and to get people familiar and excited about all of the great content that we have coming,” both in film and TV. “We have an amazing content pipeline. Between Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Peacock, Paramount Plus, Showtime, Sky Studios, we have the best content in the world coming to us. We are going to have over 30 movies a year. Once we get fully up and running, we are going to have over 30 series every year. That’s amazing. And that is it’s really providing great value for consumers at a great price.” Among other content, SkyShowtime will feature the Taylor Sheridan universe shows. “We are going to be the exclusive home for those shows in Europe,” Sarhan highlighted.

The CEO said on Thursday: “SkyShowtime was created for Europe, and we are thrilled to tell customers across Central and Eastern Europe that it’s almost time for SkyShowtime. We are excited to bring them exclusive access to the latest series and movies from our iconic and world-renowned studios as well as a premium line-up of quality local entertainment. After successful launches across North Europe and Portugal, expanding into these important markets and bringing SkyShowtime to even more people across Europe is an important milestone for us.”

Further details on programming and pricing for its Central and Eastern Europe entry will be revealed before the mid-December launch.