Since 2012, HBO has been offering a standalone streaming service to customers in parts of Europe, and it’s now reportedly planning on expanding that type of over-the-top service to other European and Asian markets. Yet the cable network still maintains that it has no plans to try it out stateside. We believe it could happen, but it would first require a handful of changes. [More]
hbo
Amazon Prime Scores HBO Programming (But Not Game Of Thrones)
By 4.23.14
For years, HBO has resisted making its library of original programming — shows like The Sopranos, The Wire, True Blood, Deadwood, etc. — available to online subscription services, choosing instead to limit that archive to either its own HBO Go service or to people willing to pay to rent or buy them individually. But today, Amazon announced that its Amazon Prime streaming video offerings will finally soon include unlimited streaming access to a variety of HBO programming (though not the one that’s the most sought-after right now). [More]
Game Of Thrones Episode Breaks Record, With 193K BitTorrent Users Sharing Single File At Same Time
By 4.16.14
The new season of HBO’s Game of Thrones is doing well in the TV ratings for the premium network, but it’s also gaining popularity with pirates who don’t feel like subscribing to the channel (or whichever premium stations air the show in other parts of the world) or waiting until it’s available to buy or rent legally. In fact, the most recent episode of the series has shattered a record for the number of people simultaneously sharing a single file via BitTorrent. [More]
Premium TV Losing Subscribers? HBO, Starz and Showtime Say Recent Survey Is Wrong
By 1.22.14
It didn’t seem like much of a surprise when a survey released earlier this week showed subscription video-on-demand services were on the rise and that premium TV subscriptions had declined. But the results were a surprise, at least to the three largest premium TV networks. [More]
Time Warner Cable Jumps On Discount HBO Bundle Bandwagon, But Price Is Misleading
By 12.2.13
A month after Comcast launched its Internet-Plus package, which is basically a plan for people who want Web access and just HBO, Time Warner Cable has quietly begun offering its own HBO-focused service aimed at slowing the rate of cord-cutting. [More]
Ethical Or Not-So-Ethical: Using A Secondary User Name To Give Free HBO Go Access To Friends?
By 11.21.13
Whether you approve of it or not, a lot of people out there share usernames and passwords for services like Netflix and HBO Go so that their friends, families and loved ones can share without having to pay for their own subscription. And some say there is a way you can do this for HBO Go (and presumably other services that use your cable login) without having to actually share your info. [More]
HBO’s Parent Company Doesn’t Predict Much Interest In HBO-Only Internet Package
By 11.7.13
Comcast recently announced a new package called Internet Plus that bundles broadband service and HBO (and perhaps more importantly HBO Go) along with a smattering of basic cable channels for $50-70/month, and some have predicted that this could push more people to ditch the pricier cable packages, but not the CEO of HBO’s parent company. [More]
Is Comcast’s HBO-Included ‘Internet Plus’ Worth It?
By 10.25.13
Yesterday, we told you of rumors that Comcast was going to launch a service dubbed Internet Plus that gives customers Internet access, a handful of cable channels and HBO (along with HBO Go) for significantly less than what you’d pay for a full Internet, basic cable, and HBO package. Today, Comcast confirmed the limited-time package so we can look at the specifics to determine if it’s a good deal. [More]
Comcast Reportedly Set To Offer Limited Service That Includes HBO Go
By 10.24.13
People who watch HBO Go generally seem to like the premium network’s streaming service. But the fact that an HBO subscription also requires you to have a basic cable package makes it cost-prohibitive to many consumers (which why so many people use their friends’ passwords to access HBO Go without paying). At the same time, cable subscribers are realizing they don’t watch most of the hundreds of channels being offered and are cutting the cord to go streaming-only. To appeal to both of these groups, Comcast is reportedly prepping to launch a pared-down package that would cost less but also include HBO and HBO Go. [More]
Netflix Now Has More Paid U.S. Subscribers Than HBO
By 10.22.13
All that binge-watching at the swipe and a click of the mouse has proved successful for Netflix lately, as the company revealed yesterday in its letter to investors that it’s hit 29.3 million U.S. subscribers. Without even taking into account its trial customers, that’s a hop skip and jump over HBO’s last reported total of 28.7 million subscribers. Cord? What’s a cord? Something to be cut? [More]
Netflix CFO Urges HBO To Offer Online Subscription Service
By 9.25.13
The TV-viewing public wants HBO Go without first having to pay for basic cable and HBO. Millions of people have signed petitions begging the company to offer such a service, and now the CFO of Netflix is asking why the premium network hasn’t offered an online subscription service yet. [More]
Standalone HBO Go Inching Closer To Reality
By 3.21.13
Millions of people love HBO Go. Unfortunately, lots of these people don’t want to pay for cable and Internet access and HBO just to get the service. But now it looks like the network is dipping its toe into the standalone waters, trying to figure out if there is a way to offer HBO Go without poking a stick at the cable companies it depends on. [More]
HBO Exec Says There’s Maybe Kinda Some Hope For Standalone Broadband Offering
By 1.25.13
For those TV viewers who perhaps only want cable service when their favorite shows are on, say Game of Thrones or if you’re struggling with the meaning of city life in your mid-20s, Girls, it kind of stinks to buy an entire cable package. So if HBO does end up cutting the cord and offering a standalone broadband service, plenty of customers will have reason to celebrate. [More]
Game Of Thrones Is King Of Pirated TV Shows
By 12.26.12
While there may be various scheming parties vying for the Iron Throne in King’s Landing, HBO’s Game of Thrones is the undisputed champ in the rankings of the 2012’s most-pirated TV shows. [More]
Now You Can Watch Game Of Thrones While Drinking Game Of Thrones Beer
By 12.17.12
Have you ever been drinking a beer while watching Game of Thrones on HBO, or while reading one of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice & Fire novels and thought to yourself, “If only this brew I’m enjoying were also somehow named after something from this story I’m enjoying”? Well, then you’re in luck. [More]
HBO Has Too Much To Lose From Offering Standalone HBO Go
By 6.11.12
Last week, we wrote about how HBO finally came out and hinted that it couldn’t yet financially justify offering its HBO Go online service as a standalone item. Of course, this isn’t stopping people from trying to make the case for HBO Go to go solo. [More]
HBO Hints It Can’t Go Online-Only Just Yet
By 6.6.12
Ever since the launch of HBO Go, the online portal that gives subscribers to the premium network access to a wide archive of shows and movies at no extra charge, fans have been begging the network to offer a standalone, subscription version that wouldn’t require them to have cable. But it looks like that won’t happen — at least in the immediate future. [More]
DirecTV Customers With Older HDTVs May Have Trouble Watching HBO
By 4.20.12
Even if your older HDTV has an HDMI port, you may not be able to connect your DirecTV receiver to your TV — at least not if you want to watch HBO. [More]
