 pnh102Reptiles Are Cuddly And PrettyPremium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD | Disagree The number of real cord-cutters is pitiful compared to the number of pay TV subscribers (125k vs. ~100 million).
I highly doubt that HBO is losing any sleep over not offering a standalone solution to people like me who cut the cord because we don't want to pay a ton of money for content.
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Romney/Ryan 2012 - Put a couple of mature adults in charge. |
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 intellerSociopaths always win.
join:2003-12-08
Tulsa, OK
 ·Cingular Wireless
| well they are trialing this in Scandanavia I'm sure those trials will go swimmingly well then they will slowly expand to the rest of Europe and eventually the US. They are going to trial this where their cable relationships are the weakest.
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"WHEN THE LAUGH TRACK STARTS THEN THE FUN STARTS!" |
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| A service that I might buy... I might be willing to spend money on a stand alone HBO service... I do not and will not spend money on an HBO cable package. Instead of wasting my money to see repeat upon repeat of stale movies occasionally interrupted by a show (e.g. Sopranos, Game of Thrones, etc) that I want to watch, I just get those shows from NetFlix, and I'm patient enough to wait for that to happen (while others pirate). A stand alone service that gives me access to the content that I want, when I want it would be worth something to me. So, sure, take my money, HBO, if you're willing. You're not getting any money from me right now, and a stand-alone service might get you some. I'm watching your content regardless. |
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 MospawMy socks don't match.Hawaiian Jellyfish
join:2001-01-08
Mile High
kudos:1 | I don't currently have HBO in any form... ...but I would probably pay a reasonable monthly fee for access to HBO Go's content as a stand alone product. They have some compelling shows. |
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Reviews:
 ·Time Warner Cable
 ·Verizon FiOS
 ·voip.ms
| Well it's not just HBO One thing to recall is that there are like 4-5 companies that own all of the cable that we see, and that HBO is owned by Time Warner who not only owns HBO but a crapload of other cable channels AND TWC. Now even though they are separate legal entities, this makes no mind to reality in that they are both vested together.
HBO subscribes to the channel model, and if they break that then their channel immediately collapses. So to do this they need to charge a significant premium to what you could get with cable, and that means $16-$20/month and compensate said channel to offset their "losses" (meaning captured audience distribution).
But this is a disconnect. How many HBO shows are there to watch? Say I only like GOT. I can get that from itunes for $30 for as long as I want. Ok, thats less than $3/mo.
They can pull all of their content and play trickery, but if they were smart they offer the "library" at say $10/mo, and the going rate for a subscription to the new shows, say $30/year. Case solved.
For me I don't like any current shows, but I do like a lot of past ones, and I would pay $5 month to access old stuff but only if they included some value rather than their old library. For $7 at netflix or free w/ Amazon I get way more value. That's the problem, there is little economic value to a one off paywall.
They are so entrenched in the broadcast consumption model, nobody gave them the memo on you pay for what you watch. And just last month I had to rejigger my cablecard because now Verizon needed to add copy flags, which BTW was added for the HBO Politburo. So I had to waste 30 minutes of my time, and I don't even have HBO. They are busy adding DRM when I think that boat was proven to sail a long time ago in the music biz... Oh the arrogance. |
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jmr50
join:2000-05-14
New York, NY | said by elefante72:One thing to recall is that there are like 4-5 companies that own all of the cable that we see, and that HBO is owned by Time Warner who not only owns HBO but a crapload of other cable channels AND TWC. Now even though they are separate legal entities, this makes no mind to reality in that they are both vested together. Time Warner and Time Warner Cable have no more connection than Time Warner and Dish. I have no idea with "this makes no mind to reality in that they are both vested together" means, but they are two completely separate entities and have been for several years. |
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| The math doesn't work? How is that? They charge $15 per sub on cable and the cable co gets a cut. If they charge $15 per sub online without the cable co cut, how are they not able to make the numbers add up? |
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quatrixPremium
join:2005-02-11
South FL
kudos:2 | Speaking of trying to justify things... Funny how people try to use a company's business model to justify stealing. The anti-authority, pro-piracy bias here is incredible. |
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Reviews:
·Charter
| said by quatrix:Funny how people try to use a company's business model to justify stealing. The anti-authority, pro-piracy bias here is incredible.
it may be, but what HBO is doing is just plain stupid. Give us a legal alternative, and many would use it. People want their content, and they will get it, legal or otherwise. |
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| Love HBO GO but only if under $10.00 My cable company - Cablevision - was one of the last to sign on for HBO GO. I cancelled my HBO subscription years ago to go all Netflix. I recently tried HBO GO and I love it. The HD is much better then the live channels and the library is very good. I watched every episode of my favorite show again - "Six Feet Under". Some of the episodes I never watched in HD or at all. Unfortunately Cablevision wants $14.95 for HBO and HBO GO. That is just too much for the service, even when GOT is showing new episodes. A stand alone HBO GO for $9.95 would be perfect. The Roku community has been asking for this since the start of HBO GO. I love my Roku and would love to add HBO GO, but only if it is under $10.00. |
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| reply to inteller
Re: well they are trialing this in Scandanavia said by inteller:I'm sure those trials will go swimmingly well then they will slowly expand to the rest of Europe and eventually the US. They are going to trial this where their cable relationships are the weakest.
I don't think their refusal to offer standalone service has anything to do with being legacy and their launch in Scandinavia proves that. I wouldn't be surprised if their contracts with cable companies simply forbid it. HBO can't offer a service that they are not allowed to sell. They have to keep the cable companies happy. As much as internet blogs want to say otherwise, HBO needs serious money and serious money can only be made by big contracts with big companies. Cable companies.
I really don't think HBO could make enough money from HBO GO as a standalone service if they lost the money made by cable companies. Now in a few years, perhaps. But for now the internet video is not there. |
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 LightSPremium
join:2005-12-17
Greenville, TX
·Time Warner Cable
·RoadRunner Cable
| reply to delltechkid
Re: The math doesn't work? You have to realize, if they do offer a standalone service, that they have to hire employees to support it. They have to also hire their own accounting/business employees to support the people who are curious, have issues, need to pay, etc. Not to mention, paying for servers needed, security for the sensitive billing information (which also will require more personnel) etc..
That being said, I still think they should offer it. |
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| reply to delltechkid
On cable, HBO provides the programming stream(s) to the broadcaster and the broadcaster handles distribution to subscribers.
If HBO goes stand-alone over the internet, they will need to lease services from content distribution networks or build a content distribution network of their own.
So doing it themselves is not necessarily as obvious a choice as it may seem. |
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| reply to rick0204
Re: Love HBO GO but only if under $10.00 And I'd love a brand new Porche 911 Turbo, but only for $13,000. |
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 N3OGHYo Soy Col. "Bat" GuanoPremium
join:2003-11-11
Philly burbs
kudos:1 | reply to pnh102
Re: Disagree HBO would be foolish to rest on their laurels. The halls of business are littered with others who made the same mistake. Polaroid, Kodak, GM (propped up only by government fiat, no pun intended), Nokia, RIM (not dead but certainly circling the bowl) & to a lesser extent Sony have all seen lofty heights only to subcombe to a lack of vision, a failure to innovate, and the failure to track market trends.
Are cord cutters a small minority right now? Certainly. In a down economy, with more options available every day it would be smart to cater to this growing sector of users.
Traditional cable service isn't going away, but change within the industry is inevitable given the alternate content delivery options people now have access to.
Just ask anyone who used to sell compact discs what iTunes has done to their business.
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Petty people are disproportionally corrupted by petty power |
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 BF69Premium
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN | reply to quatrix
Re: Speaking of trying to justify things... said by quatrix:Funny how people try to use a company's business model to justify stealing. The anti-authority, pro-piracy bias here is incredible.
When the company itself says they'd rather put up with 25 million people illegally downloading Game Of Thrones than offer HBOGo as a stand alone product my sympathy for them no longer exists. So in this case I am not going to admonish anyone stealing HBOs content since they've basically endorsed it. |
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BF69Premium
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN | reply to rick0204
Re: Love HBO GO but only if under $10.00 said by rick0204:My cable company - Cablevision - was one of the last to sign on for HBO GO. I cancelled my HBO subscription years ago to go all Netflix. I recently tried HBO GO and I love it. The HD is much better then the live channels and the library is very good. I watched every episode of my favorite show again - "Six Feet Under". Some of the episodes I never watched in HD or at all. Unfortunately Cablevision wants $14.95 for HBO and HBO GO. That is just too much for the service, even when GOT is showing new episodes. A stand alone HBO GO for $9.95 would be perfect. The Roku community has been asking for this since the start of HBO GO. I love my Roku and would love to add HBO GO, but only if it is under $10.00.
It's people like you that is why HBO won't change. HBOGo if offered as stand alone would not be cheaper than the $15 cable charges. And really if you're not paying for cable, $15 is a good deal. Quit expecting something for nothing. |
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 WireHeadI drive to fastPremium
join:2001-05-09
Muncie, IN | No go HBO I don't have HBO or HBO GO. If HBO GO was available without needing cable I would definitely sign up. Like it was mentioned before I'm not missing out on content. Provide me an alternative way that is legal and I will come. Otherwise pbbt...
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Retired BBR Team Starfire Team Q III Host
Live by chance. Love by choice. Kill by profession. |
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| Some responses here are immediately suspect Who would REALLY step up to defend HBO and decry "piracy" on this forum? Come on. How much do you get paid to do that? |
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| reply to Mospaw
Re: I don't currently have HBO in any form... I'm the same. I don't have HBO, but I'd get HBO to go if it came with no ISP or cable requirements. |
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