HBO will soon let you watch their stuff without a cable subscription

[squarecut1]

it'll be more than the average of what you'd pay for it as an add on to your cable subscription. rationale would be that although it's more, you're saving $40-$50 by not needing to subscribe to basic cable.

You can add HBO to basic cable (which has over the air channels only) for $10 currently.

 

[Rakehellion]

Comcast just shat themselves.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

It all comes down to cost. Anything above $20 and I think it's going to fail. Part of this feels like a setup...as in they are going to price it at something stupid like $30 a month and scare away piles of subscribers and use that as a "TOLD YOU SO!" excuse as to why a la carte is a bad idea.

I think they see the handwriting on the wall and want to get out in front of the shift to a different business model.

 

[T9D]

All the HBO shows are already on amazon prime. Sure after the season is done but good enough for me.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

It all comes down to cost. Anything above $20 and I think it's going to fail. Part of this feels like a setup...as in they are going to price it at something stupid like $30 a month and scare away piles of subscribers and use that as a "TOLD YOU SO!" excuse as to why a la carte is a bad idea.

You think they're going to forego the basic economics of setting a price point to maximize profits out of sheer spite? They have the potential to expand into completely new markets, and they're going to throw that away to stay tethered to a cable system that is increasingly unpopular? That seems incredibly unlikely.

 

[vi edit]

Yeah HBO is $10-$15 a month for me under Time Warner depending on promotion. That's why I think pricing is sort of a big deal. For $20 a month I can get basic cable + HBO for a year. Of course it goes up to like $30 or $35 after that unless I cancel or threaten to cancel and get a retention offer.

What's the point of getting HBO stand alone if it's going to cost me more than basic + HBO and on a non-gimped interface right to my TV?

 

[squarecut1]

The next thing that needs to go is this archaic, outdated, no longer relevant due to technology that is now present - the model of "TV by installment". All the episodes need to be released at once, so people can watch whenever they feel like.

There are shows I have really enjoyed, The Wire, being the biggest example - which I think I would not have liked much if I had watched it by the installment method. Maybe I would not have even bothered to keep up with it. But in one go, it made sense, the story made sense.

 

[jlarsson]

From what I read, HBO gets about $7 per subscriber from TV providers. So, I'm thinking HBO will charge $10-15 per month.

If it's anything $15/month or less, I won't be able to drop my cable subscription fast enough.

 

[vi edit]

You think they're going to forego the basic economics of setting a price point to maximize profits out of sheer spite?

This is a cable company we are talking about. They are fueled by spite.

 

[irishScott]

All the HBO shows are already on amazon prime. Sure after the season is done but good enough for me.

And once this releases, see how long that lasts.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

All the HBO shows are already on amazon prime. Sure after the season is done but good enough for me.

No, it isn't after the season -- there is a delay of several years IIRC.

 

[Kev]

what issues do you have with it? works fine on my ipad. find show/movie, hit play, it plays. (and sends pretty flawlessly to a chromecast as well)

The video quality is pretty bad. Framerate and compression, stutters, etc.

Trying to add a tv series is annoying because you can't just add a series and watch chronologically like netflix.

 

[squarecut1]

HBOGO app is by far the worst app I have ever used on any set top box - and I have used several apps on Roku, Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV. Terrible! POS!

 

[Red Storm]

The next thing that needs to go is this archaic, outdated, no longer relevant due to technology that is now present - the model of "TV by installment". All the episodes need to be released at once, so people can watch whenever they feel like.

There are shows I have really enjoyed, The Wire, being the biggest example - which I think I would not have liked much if I had watched it by the installment method. Maybe I would not have even bothered to keep up with it. But in one go, it made sense, the story made sense.

Netflix already does this, it's because they aren't on TV. I imagine HBO wouldn't do it until they stopped being on TV.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Netflix already does this, it's because they aren't on TV. I imagine HBO wouldn't do it until they stopped being on TV.

Even then, I can't imagine they'd do it if they have a monthly subscription service. 10 episodes of a popular show like Game of Thrones. It could either be released all at once, so people could binge-watch and pay for one month of subscription, or it could be released weekly and force people to pay for 3 months of subscription. If I'm a television network executive, there's no financial incentive for me to choose option 1.

 

[Markbnj]

What would be awesome is if Comcast tries to turn around and hold HBO to ransom for interconnect fees the way it has done with Netflix. Awkward position, much?

 

[Ns1]

Even then, I can't imagine they'd do it if they have a monthly subscription service. 10 episodes of a popular show like Game of Thrones. It could either be released all at once, so people could binge-watch and pay for one month of subscription, or it could be released weekly and force people to pay for 3 months of subscription. If I'm a television network executive, there's no financial incentive for me to choose option 1.

you mean pandering to internet crybabies doesn't drive profit? wat

 

[irishScott]

Even then, I can't imagine they'd do it if they have a monthly subscription service. 10 episodes of a popular show like Game of Thrones. It could either be released all at once, so people could binge-watch and pay for one month of subscription, or it could be released weekly and force people to pay for 3 months of subscription. If I'm a television network executive, there's no financial incentive for me to choose option 1.

This. Netflix has all of its other offerings to keep customers around, HBO doesn't really have the same luxury unless they plan to diversify.

 

[Insomniator]

I don't see why it would have to be at least what it costs to add with cable. They don't get the full ~$20 from the cable company and I'm sure that pissed them off.

If they could get $10 or $15 while at the same time screwing over companies like comcast I don't see why they wouldn't. Whats the worst that happens? People drop HBO via cable and instead directly pay HBO $10 a month? Oh no!

I wonder if cable companies would start throttling HBO streaming in this case.

 

[irishScott]

I don't see why it would have to be at least what it costs to add with cable. They don't get the full ~$20 from the cable company and I'm sure that pissed them off.

If they could get $10 or $15 while at the same time screwing over companies like comcast I don't see why they wouldn't. Whats the worst that happens? People drop HBO via cable and instead directly pay HBO $10 a month? Oh no!

I wonder if cable companies would start throttling HBO streaming in this case.

Now that is a truly hilarious scenario.

 

[Ns1]

I don't see why it would have to be at least what it costs to add with cable. They don't get the full ~$20 from the cable company and I'm sure that pissed them off.

If they could get $10 or $15 while at the same time screwing over companies like comcast I don't see why they wouldn't. Whats the worst that happens? People drop HBO via cable and instead directly pay HBO $10 a month? Oh no!

I wonder if cable companies would start throttling HBO streaming in this case.

cuz they won't get the full $10 or $15 either.

 

[Ns1]

evidently HBO launched this as a beta test in Scandanavia. It's ~$15/month there.

 

[Rhezuss]

Please HBO, don't forget Canada
I'm in if the price is right.

 

[squarecut1]

Even then, I can't imagine they'd do it if they have a monthly subscription service. 10 episodes of a popular show like Game of Thrones. It could either be released all at once, so people could binge-watch and pay for one month of subscription, or it could be released weekly and force people to pay for 3 months of subscription. If I'm a television network executive, there's no financial incentive for me to choose option 1.

It would be better for them financially if people can get interested in their shows in the first place. For me, GoT was somewhat bearable in binge watching mode - the part of which I watched that way. The part I watched by the installment method, I hated it. Could not stand it.

Plus they have a huge back catalog with shows like The Wire, Sopranos, Six Feet Under and so on. There is a lot of material there to have people keep paying. There are a lot of people who have never watched HBO shows. Unless of course someone is watching 8 hours of TV per day.

 

[zinfamous]

They better improve their HBO Go service. It has become almost completely unuseable for me over the last several months. (through Chromecast).

It plays decent on its own, but it seems to be a known issue that Go has absurd bandwidth requirements that will muck up most wireless routers. I have no problems with Netflix through Chromecast, for example. GO is in constant buffer mode, though.