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HBO to Offer Stand-Alone Streaming Service (Update: CBS wants in too)

_MJ_

By _MJ_
in MOVIES & TV

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_MJ_

_MJ_

Posted
Posted (edited)

 

HBO chairman Richard Plepler said that his company would offer a standalone streaming service at some point in 2015.

 

Noting that there are roughly ten million homes in America with broadband access but no cable service — a number expected to keep rising — Plepler said, "That is a large and growing opportunity that should no longer be left untapped.  It is time to remove all barriers to those who want HBO. So, in 2015, we will launch a stand-alone, over-the-top, HBO service in the United States. We will work with our current partners.  And, we will explore models with new partners.  All in, there are 80 million homes that do not have HBO and we will use all means at our disposal to go after them."

Plepler offered no details beyond that, nor did HBO corporate communications have any when I checked in with them. The idea is in an embryonic stage, but as something the company plans to do next year, it was something Plepler felt he should announce at the meeting.

 

 
They're being sketchy on the details, which probably means they'll be some limitations and/or restrictions.  Alan Sepinwall (television critic) notes that the HBO chairman didn't specifically mention the HBO Go service in this announcement, which seems intentional.
 
The pricing will obviously be a big deal.  Netflix has more options to draw from, so you would think HBO would have to be under their pricing numbers.
 
Edit:

On the heels of HBO's announcement, CBS has launched their own all access streaming subscription service.  It's $5.99 per month.

 

The subscription includes:

-Full seasons of 15 current CBS shows.  New episodes available the day after they air.
-Full past seasons of 8 current shows

-More than 5,000 episodes of classic series from the CBS library (Cheers, Twin Peaks, Star Trek, etc.)

-No NFL games (Nice try, suckas)

Edited by _MJ_
_MJ_

_MJ_

Posted
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They probably won't be as happy-go-lucky about people sharing passwords with this service as they appeared to be about HBO Go password sharing too.

 

Understandable.

muhammedboehm

muhammedboehm

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I bet the meetings betw=n hbo execs and time warner cable execs will be fin.

And what exactly will the TW/Comcast guys have to hold at HBO.

 

HBO: Its our content and cable is dying

TW/Comcast: Fine we'll pull your stations

HBO: Thanks that means the people paying YOU for it will pay us!

BrianS81177

BrianS81177

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I was wondering how long it would take HBO to realize they were leaving giant piles of money on the table by not offering streaming to everyone.

muhammedboehm

muhammedboehm

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I was wondering how long it would take HBO to realize they were leaving giant piles of money on the table by not offering streaming to everyone.

And I think if HBO can do it and it I wouldn't be shocked if the mouse does it for either Disney content or ESPN.

_MJ_

_MJ_

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I'm sure Disney will be monitoring the success(or failure) of this service closely, but I think they're far off from jumping on the bandwagon.

 

Cable companies probably won't let sports go without a fight anyway.

Tabe

Tabe

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I dont know if disney would given the obscene carriage fees for espn channels.

But they dont get that fee if I dont have cable and Im thinking that fee is less then $10-15
Disney/ESPN would lose billions in that swap. They are huge because every cable subscriber pays for them. If that goes away, they will lose at least half their audience, probably more.
piranesi

piranesi

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Right now HBO is $19/month if you have Dish and they don't give you any sort of discount for "bundling" it with other premiums.  So for a lot of people $15 would already be a price cut.

Brian Fowler

Brian Fowler

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I'm paying 20 a month for charter's silver package that gets me HBO, cinemax, showtime, and some assorted other non premium, non basic channels.

Jenalysis

Jenalysis

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Posted

 

I bet the meetings betw=n hbo execs and time warner cable execs will be fin.

And what exactly will the TW/Comcast guys have to hold at HBO.

 

HBO: Its our content and cable is dying

TW/Comcast: Fine we'll pull your stations

HBO: Thanks that means the people paying YOU for it will pay us!

 

 

ComWarner: oh, that's a nice service you have- shame if something happened to your bandwidth.

  • Like 1
sydneybrown

sydneybrown

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If this service has every HBO comedy special ever shown it will be well worth it.

 

I only recently discovered that my gf has HBO GO, and I was amazed at how much stand-up from the 90s is on there.  It's not every show ever, it looks like they rotate stuff out, but I got to watch Louie CK from 1996 and Paul F. Tompkins "Driven to Drink" which is one of my favorite thirty minutes of anybody.

_MJ_

_MJ_

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It appears the floodgates have open.  On the heels of HBO's announcement, CBS has launched their own all access streaming subscription service.  It's $5.99 per month.

 

The subscription includes:

-Full seasons of 15 current CBS shows.  New episodes available the day after they air.
-Full past seasons of 8 current shows

-More than 5,000 episodes of classic series from the CBS library (Cheers, Twin Peaks, Star Trek, etc.)

-No NFL games (Nice try, suckas)

 

Read more at:  http://www.hitfix.com/whats-alan-watching/a-la-carte-racing-cbs-offers-cbs-all-access-subscription-service

 

Also Showtime, which is owned by CBS, could be following a similar path in the future.  These subscription services are going to start to add up.

 
sydneybrown

sydneybrown

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Shit, between annual subscriptions to Amazon Prime and Crunchyroll, and monthly for Netflix and Hulu, they're already adding up for me.

 

Don't worry, if other companies follow HBO and CBS's lead, eventually there won't BE a Netflix or Hulu.  Why charge a middle-man when you can do it yourself?

sydneybrown

sydneybrown

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Funny that those 3 shows mentioned didnt air on CBS. (Nbc abc nbc)

 

They were all produced by Paramount Television which CBS now owns.  Happy Days, The Brady Bunch, Family Ties, and Wings fall under that banner too.

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