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.