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HBO to introduce web-only streaming in 2015


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HBO is going it alone. Chief executive Richard Plepler announced on Wednesday that the home of Game of Thrones and Girls will be available as a web-only service next year.

Speaking at an investor presentation hosted by HBO parent company Time Warner, Plepler said the company will start selling a version of its service in the US that won’t require a TV subscription in 2015.

He gave few other details about the service but the long-anticipated move is likely to spark a fierce debate in the media industry at a time when regulators are scrutinizing the biggest cable TV merger in history. No pricing information was announced.

HBO is a key selling point for cable subscriptions which are increasingly under threat from “cable cutters” – people who have opted out of a cable TV subscription package and watch their TV via the internet.

Plepler said the service was aimed at the 10 million people in the US who subscribe to broadband, but don’t watch television.

“That is a large and growing opportunity that should no longer be left untapped,” he said. “It is time to remove all barriers to those who want HBO. So, in 2015, we will launch a standalone, over-the-top, HBO service in the United States.”

Time Warner has long maintained it is happy with the current system. Only last year Plepler told an investor conference in New York: “For right now, we have the right model for our business.” Time Warner does offer an online service, HBO Go, but it is currently only available with a subscription package.

The growing popularity of Netflix and Amazon’s streaming TV service may have prompted a change of heart. Netflix has challenged HBO’s dominance in quality shows with hits including House of Cards and Orange is the New Black. Amazon’s Transparent is being widely tipped as an award winner this year.

But the current arrangement is a lucrative one for Time Warner. HBO generated $4.9bn in revenue last year, mainly from fees paid by cable companies including Comcast and Time Warner Cable, the cable company spun off from the media firm in 2008.

HBO’s move could prompt others to follow. ESPN, part of Disney, has already said it will sell a package of NBA games online.

Perversely HBO’s move could be a plus for Comcast’s plans to take over its rival TWC. The number one and number two cable firms have argued that their merger is necessary in the face of a changing media landscape where more people opt out of cable packages to receive their TV via the internet.

The deal would still, however, hand control of 36% of the US’s broadband service to one company.

 

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won't work. customers don't want to have to subscribe to everyone individually

 

what's next, Dreamworks only subscription online to watch Dreamworks films and no Dreamworks films on Netflix? Then the same for Fox, Columbia etc?

 

Haze, it should make the rip easier/earlier, if brand new episodes are going straight to their own website, can just steal from their website and rip

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All there shows are available to stream through various sources and all platforms anyway...free of charge. :Y: .

 

They dont really have a choice.

 

they do cos they are not really losing money from it 

 

as the majority of people who pirate would never buy if there was no option to pirate

 

the money made by licensing the shows overseas is nuts as well as blurays.... HBO never under sell their shows and would it rather it sit and people pirate it then license it on the cheap

 

all they are doing now is securing a stronger foothold internationally and having there own platform to potentially use and cut out the middleman

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Boxing as well even tho shotime gott a better roster right now

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