|
Finally cord cutting gets a major boost This will only fuel rumors that Showtime, and news outlets plan to do the same in the near future. Added to the rumor mill that Verizon is working on a streaming TV service.
HBO is cutting the cord.
The company announced on Wednesday that it will launch a standalone streaming video service in the U.S. that will allow you to watch HBO programming without paying for an expensive cable subscription.
"It is time to remove all barriers to those who want HBO," Richard Plepler, HBO's CEO, said at an investor conference in New York on Wednesday, adding that it will be "transformative" for the company.
A lot of details remain unclear at this point -- how much will the service cost? Will it simply be HBO GO sold as a standalone product, or a slimmed down version with only some of the programming? Plepler acknowledged as much in his presentation, but said that for "competitive reasons," he won't be able to answer questions today.
An HBO spokesman would not comment beyond Plepler's presentation.
In the U.S., the company currently offers HBO GO, a service that lets people watch HBO programming on demand on many devices, though you must have a pay-TV subscription in order to use it. That, of course, hasn't stopped many people from sharing passwords.
Plelper's boss, Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes, said last year that a standalone service wasn't in HBO's "economic best interest." But subscriptions to pay TV in the U.S. have remained flat or slightly declined in recent years. Many people, especially younger people, are choosing to "cut the cord:" forgoing cable subscriptions and instead opting for services like Netflix and Hulu Plus.
Source
|
|
Yay! Finally! I can't wait to actually have the option to watch game of thrones in a legal, reliable, timely, and safe manner.
|
I have never paid for television in my life and I never will. The internet is much more entertaining.
|
Yea, it's a nice thing to have, but then it goes back to what happened with Netflix and Comcast. Will HBO have to start fussing up money for a "reliable service" through the users ISP?
|
On October 16 2014 02:40 ShoCkeyy wrote: Yea, it's a nice thing to have, but then it goes back to what happened with Netflix and Comcast. Will HBO have to start fussing up money for a "reliable service" through the users ISP?
Well I guess that's why it's important for young people to stay in the know about politics, and to be active voters.
Best I can tell there are no potential presidential candidates from republicans who would back Net Neutrality.
So if America votes Republican especially for these midterms and the next presidential election, Net Neutrality will be gone in America.
Then services like this one from HBO will be getting shafted by ISP's like Comcast and would be forced to pay more. Which as we all know means they ask "Should I lower my profit margin/cut costs elsewhere to cover these increased costs, or should I just put the entire burden back onto the consumers shoulders" to which we all know the answer that is said with pride by most businesses presented with this issue.
|
I'm happy for this, but I fear for the backlash from cable companies on my internet
|
Netherlands1788 Posts
The rest of the world doesn't exist I suppose.
|
On October 16 2014 07:11 Thorakh wrote: The rest of the world doesn't exist I suppose. http://hbonordic.com/home
Saw commercials for this site during this week.
|
|
Still don't understand why HBO doesn't want my money. Guess I just have to wait longer.
|
They're probably not ready. I think HBO is releasing it in the US only first to see if there are unforeseen problems. Maybe they'll still be tinkering with price and stuff.
|
On October 17 2014 00:44 Cambium wrote: U.S. only makes me cry
There are other HBO sites globally. The nordic one I can use is around $10 a month. Which is more than I want to pay since I only want to watch two of their series a year on average.
|
That and is cord cutting really a big deal in Europe as it is in the US?
|
On October 17 2014 01:28 {CC}StealthBlue wrote: That and is cord cutting really a big deal in Europe as it is in the US?
Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, and Poland are the dozen in question and IHS says the subscriber reverses show that cord-cutting is now a reality in Europe.
The only large market of those is Italy. So in general it isn't widespread as I understand it.
|
Now CBS has announced a online streaming service without cable, but more like Netflix as CBS is a free channel here in the states.
|
HBO's new standalone streaming service is being prepped for an April 2015 launch, according to a Fortune report.
HBO wants to launch the service, which will not require a cable subscription, to coincide with the new season of "Game of Thrones," HBO's most successful show ever, with an average of 18.4 million viewers per episode, according to Deadline.
HBO did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Huffington Post.
Fortune's report cites a leaked memo written by Mark Thomas, HBO's senior vice president of technology program management, and Drew Angeloff, HBO's senior vice president of digital products.
Source
|
Cayman Islands24199 Posts
they are actually using MLB.tv's technology. i have that service and it's quite unstable for a stretch of this year.
|
On October 16 2014 04:22 aksfjh wrote:I'm happy for this, but I fear for the backlash from cable companies on my internet Exactly. Comcast-TimeWarner is going to control most cable and throttle you for cutting it. Americans will end up paying the same as if they had cable and internet except they wont have a television.
|
On December 10 2014 14:26 Sub40APM wrote:Show nested quote +On October 16 2014 04:22 aksfjh wrote:I'm happy for this, but I fear for the backlash from cable companies on my internet Exactly. Comcast-TimeWarner is going to control most cable and throttle you for cutting it. Americans will end up paying the same as if they had cable and internet except they wont have a television.
This 'cord cutting' term is a joke. Your TV and internet comes from the same cord in most places in the US/Canada. Sometimes phone too. Of course you are not going to cut THAT cord.
Need to come up with a better term. How about 'expensive-cable-package-with-100-channels-we-have-to-pay-for-when-we-only-watch-a-few-cutting'. Rolls off the tongue.
|
|
|
|