HBO's 'Game of Thrones' Once Again Most Pirated TV Show

I wouldn't subscribe to HBO GO. It wouldn't be worth it to me for one show. But I would love not to have to wait a year to buy each season. Requiring people to wait nearly a year before it becomes available on Amazon or on DVD/BD is ridiculous. Probably costs them money too as not only do people pirate, but they completely miss the holiday season sales other TV shows enjoy.

You have to remember that they sell the show on a different schedule in other markets around the world (more than 3 times the size of the US market based on paid subscriptions) so the loss of a few dvd sets is minor compared to offering it on "exclusive" channels in 151 countries during that year 6 million pirates (most of whom will never pay for it anyway it's offered) are pretty small potatoes compared to 150 million paid customers world wide.

Windows are one thing, but you assertion is that "pirates" won't pay for it has been proven wrong in first the music market and now home video market via Netflix.

You could count me as a HBO subscriber, but as $ go, I have HBO free for a year. For free I like it, but I would never pay $20 a month to have it. In 1 year I can make a pretty big dent in the old catalog.... I would actually pay $8 like netflix, but IMHO outside the original content (which only a small portion I like), Netflix is way more diverse. HBO is not kid friendly...My kids spend at least 90% of their tube time on Netflix, the rest on broadcast and some youtube. And my wife is old skool and could care less about HBOGo, even though it's on the primary Roku...

While HBO execs are busy flying around in G5 jets, when my kids grow up and become consumers they could give a rat a$$ about HBO. They don't even know or care what it is. They think everything streamed without commercials is Netflix, and I am more than happy not to correct them. And they know youtube. So I would say they are in for a tough time if they don't appeal to the young kids..

And that's the problem, HBO is a 1-trick pony, and only if you like that pony does it make sense to go to the track.

That's assuming making sales available immediately cannibalizes some of those subscriptions. That is no doubt their biggest fear. But as long as the subscription service has value that won't happen.

The problem is that with Netflix, HBO has very little value left. If they were to allow per-episode sales right away, assuming similar pricing to every other show at roughly a buck an episode, you could buy the entire season for what most people give HBO every month. There would be no value left in a monthly subscription with 11 times the annual cost.

You have to remember that the internet has made that business model null and void.

Except those are current figures, so the "internet" (or those pirating over the internet) are still very small as a percentage, and the old model is still very healthy income wise.
your contention the pirates have "WON" or are even a valuable target group is false.

I agree. The music industry and much of the movie/TV industry has changed. People can now download mp3s for cheap and TV is made available this way as well. HBO chooses to hold back this show in order to charge companies more for access to it.

But I think many people are over thinking this. Stats like this don't hurt this show as most would think. When stats like this are released it creates a buzz. People who pirate the show and talk about it create a buzz. HBO is still making a ton of money off the show despite people watching it for free.

BTW - I've been watching it on the Internet and it's a pretty good show. The 1st 2 season's were much better then the 3rd (I'm a few shows into the 3rd season). It was much more realistic initially. Now it's all about magic.... less drama.

I'd pay for HBO Go even at $20/month, however I'd only do it a few months out of the year. Better than what they get from me now, but the issue is perhaps many of their existing subscribers would behave similarly.

That's generally the problem with HBO. They make really good content but they seem to spread out their best shows. It seems (most of the time) there is only 1 decent show on the channel. It's not worth 15 to 18/month for one show. If I were patient enough I could use the 3 or 4 months it takes to watch a 12 to 13 episode season and buy the bluray so I can have a permanent copy.

For the non-patient they pirate.

No subscriptions, no fooling around, no delays, no DRM and other idiocy. Just a reasonable fixed price per file with an episode released the same time it comes out. Many of those who pirate will pay for it, so they'll only gain more customers.

If they want to reduce piracy, then must start competing with pirate sources in availability and usability.

HBO Go opens up to anyone willing to pay on the Internet,
or is more likely offered by NetFlix as a premium add on.

most CableTV company stocks crash - especially TWC which
is over inflated due to crazy valued buyout speculation.

Would it happen to be that they are one of the worst at dragging their asses on the dvd releases? I mean seriously, they are slow as hell on releases, and if an opportunity opened up to me, I would consider downloading/viewing it too just because they take sooooooooooo damn long on releasing them...

These douche bags will never learn smh

Give the people what they want. I am old enough to remember using the original Napster back when the music studios were not giving the people what they want. They finally listened and have made a ton of money from MP3s.

Video industry is the dumbest and slowest to realize the futility of using DRM. Others are moving away from it. You can get DRM-free music, e-books, games and etc. But very rarely you can buy DRM-free video. Such DRM-free services like »www.headweb.com/en aren't widely available.

The quality of HBO GO isn't the great. It seems a bit over-compressed, even compared to cable. I only use it if I'm trying to get something I can't get by TiVo'ing it or watching through VOD.

If you have to add HBO to a tv bill, the dvd purchase is a huge perk, as you can watch them again without all the pain of commercials or a huge monthly bill for access. That's all the tv bill is, one massive content access fee. Pretty bad when buying boxed sets is cheaper than paying for a cable.