HBO No Go For Time Warner Cable Cablevision, Time Warner Cable Users Don't Get HBO Online Earlier this year HBO unveiled HBO and Cinemax Go, their new walled-garden broadband video platforms that offer HBO and Cinemax content to users online -- if you already pay for HBO and Cinemax on traditional cable and if your ISP has struck a partnership to carry the services. That latter catch, pioneered by ESPN for their ESPN3 service, has been taking flak for disrupting the traditional consumer choice content access model, and shaping your view of the Internet depending on which ISP you have. HBO's been slower than ESPN in striking deals with ISPs, though they now offer the service to Verizon, AT&T, Comcast, Cox and DirecTV customers. Despite initially testing the service with HBO, Time Warner Cable isn't adding the service anytime soon, and Cablevision appears another significant hold out.
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 | | Doesn't Time Warner own HBO and Cinemax? I thought they did why are we being left out then? I am on BrightHouse but they do what Time Warner says. Don't get me started on that rant. | |
|  |  PhoenixDown-- Wants FIOSPremium
join:2003-06-08
Fresh Meadows, NY
kudos:1 | Re: Doesn't Time Warner own HBO and Cinemax? Time Warner sold off Time Warner Cable.
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| Re: Doesn't Time Warner own HBO and Cinemax? Time Warner cable own HBO / Cinemax OK so why is Time Warner Cable not signing on to HBO GO?
Time Warner and Time Warner cable are two different companies I see that. Now if you have TWC you should get all HBO and Cinemax has to offer before anyone else because they own the channels.
However they don't even like to add their own channels to their own service. I could see if TWC didn't own the channels.
Last to get them in HD also. | |
| | | | PhoenixDown-- Wants FIOSPremium
join:2003-06-08
Fresh Meadows, NY
kudos:1 | Re: Doesn't Time Warner own HBO and Cinemax? Maybe you misunderstood -- TWC does -not- own HBO.
AOL Time Warner = owns HBO but not TWC.
TWC does not own HBO or any other content channel.
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| | | | |  celeritypcFor Lucky Best Wash, Use Mr. SparklePremium
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Caldwell, NJ | Re: Doesn't Time Warner own HBO and Cinemax? said by PhoenixDown:Maybe you misunderstood -- TWC does -not- own HBO.
AOL Time Warner = owns HBO but not TWC.
TWC does not own HBO or any other content channel.
There is no more AOL-Time Warner. AOL was spun back off into a separate company.
Needless to say, like others have been saying, Time Warner and Time Warner Cable are two different companies with different management teams. Time Warner does own a piece of TWC. | |
| | | | | | | | Re: Doesn't Time Warner own HBO and Cinemax? regardless TW still owns HBO. | |
| | | | | | | | | Re: Doesn't Time Warner own HBO and Cinemax? No for TWC at least.
"For its first 20 years, Time Warner Cable was controlled by Time Warner. However, despite being headquartered in the same building as Time Warner, Time Warner Cable is no longer affiliated with Time Warner, having been spun out to shareholders in March 2009.[3]" | |
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| |  KoilPremium
join:2002-09-10
Irmo, SC | Re: Time Warner owns it not TWC lol...dude...listen...That link goes to Time Warner....which has nothing, zip, zero, zilch, nada, niente, zippo, absolute zero to do with Time Warner Cable....they're similar in name only, and that is where the similarity ends. They're 2 separate companies, like McDonald's is to Home Depot. No correlation.
This article is in regards to HBO and TWC, which have no corporate connections.
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| Re: Time Warner owns it not TWC said by Koil: They're 2 separate companies, like McDonald's is to Home Depot. No correlation.
Not true. Time Warner Cable and Time Warner were a single company until they decided to remove the Entertainment portion of the company as a pure play from the Internet, Phone, Video and wireless department. Hence the similarity in name. I am certain that Time Warner and Time Warner Cable has a relationship that is "different" (such as special favours or a significant reduction in price for content) than other companies since they were one company prior though the companies are separate at this point. | |
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| | well, some do... but not through the oridnary "channels"
old mctorrent had a yab, eieio... | |
| | | TWC and Cablevision waiting on courts They are waiting to see what happens with ipad ap and the courts. Why would they want to sign contract when they might be able to offer those channels for free if sub already pay for them via wifi inside the home. Granted this doesn't mean access outside your home but it is still cheaper than whatever HBO wants to charge. | |
| | |  jmn1207Premium
join:2000-07-19
Ashburn, VA | Re: ISP deal? said by djrobx:It seems HBO is striking deals with video service providers, not ISPs. Some of the video providers just also happen to be ISPs.
With my DirecTV HBO GO, I can connect from whatever ISP I choose. That seems to be the case for Cox customers too, from Cox's own press release:
"Cox video customers who authenticate themselves as subscribers to HBO and Cinemax now have access to the programming anywhere in the nation with a broadband connection."
So, this looks like a value-add for HBO customers on certain video carriers. I'm not seeing a correlation to the controversial ESPN 360 model that shuns customers of smaller ISPs.
ESPN 3 is a value-add to ISP customers with a sliding pricing scale that only makes it economical if there are over 1 million subscribers. Everyone with an ISP that paid for ESPN 3 covers the cost, even if they never want or use the value-added service. There is no option for an individual to pay for ESPN 3, at any cost.
HBO to Go is a value-add to HBO customers through their respective video service provider that uses a similar pricing scale with regards to the cost being directly impacted by the number of subscribers. Everyone with HBO covers the cost of the new "To Go" service, regardless of whether or not they will ever use it. There is no option for individuals to sign up for HBO to Go, and HBO will probably aggressively advertise for TWC customers to sign up for DirecTV if they stumble across a link to this unauthorized service.
It's a bullshit business model that strips away the customer's role in the supply and demand chain.
This model worked perfectly for many years as both the content provider along with the service provider were able to increase prices to make a profit with every single value-added service. With ESPN 3 comes the annual price hike from our service provider to cover the cost. Disney makes an extra buck per subscriber, and so does the service provider. It was a win-win situation for everyone involved, except the customer.
The problem now is that we are nearing a ceiling in just how far the prices can continue to climb. Customer are doing the only thing that they can, drop to a cheaper package, take advantage of a new customer discount with an alternate provider (if available), or cut the cord completely. The typical profit increase expected with an annual rate hike is being neutralized by cancellations, defections (where possible), and contract restructuring. Because of the sliding pay scale offered by the content providers, ESPN and HBO are going to get their $25 million, whether it is by $1 for 25 million subscribers or by $10 for 2.5 million subscribers. The video provider is now forced to fight back using whatever leverage they can muster.
This is just great.  | |
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| | I'd pay for online HBO but not for both I'd gladly pay around $5-10 a month for HBO via broadband but not if I already pay $10/month for HBO on my cable box on top of the $60 base cost for one HD cable box and the basic channel lineup (they might call this something else but its still basic cable only digital)
Even a person who has cable, with one of these companies and subscribes to HBO would be challenged to find the value proposition in another $10/month for HBO Go just to be able to watch on his computer and probably only from his home internet connection since they likely block other ISP's.
HBO should be looking to divorce itself from its dependence on the major cable operators and dish networks by offering its video feeds online for a monthly fee or inking a deal with a content distribution network. Instead it is tying even its online offering to particular cable operators, stupidly limiting its own customer base.
Meanwhile Starz and soon countless low budget upstart studios are going to offer shows through itunes and netflix or independently.
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| Rekrul
join:2007-04-21
Milford, CT Reviews:
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| WTF? Reading this story and the details behind "HBO Go", I don't know whether to laugh or cry. The ridiculousness of the entire scheme just boggles the mind!
They've taken something that should be incredibly easy in this day and age, and needlessly complicated it in a futile attempt to battle the "evil" pirates.
You should be able to go to HBO's web site from anywhere in the world, pay a small, one-time fee and download any episode of any original show that HBO has ever aired. Maybe with a discount if you buy the whole season, or the whole run of a show. You should be able to download it with just your web browser and it should be a DRM-free file in standard AVI or MKV format, depending on whether you want the SD or HD version. "Oh, they can't do that! The files would get pirated!" Well guess what? They're already being pirated! The pirates don't need HBO's help.
No, instead you need to subscribe to HBO, your cable company needs to carry HBO Go, you need to use specific versions of either Windows or Mac OS, you'll only be able to access a limited selection of HBO's current programming and all the shows will be streamed, not downloaded.
It's like they're trying to encourage people to pirate their stuff. | |
| | | DirecTV Deal I'm not sure what the big spat is over. DirecTV apparently got HBO Go for their customers by agreeing to add two more HBO channels in HD. Time Warner Cable just needs to add some more HBO in HD. | |
|  jaj
@verizon.net | ISP vs cable service provider? I'm confused. I subscribe to HBO via TWC, but my ISP (both on my phone and my DSL) is Verizon. Will I be able to bet HBOgo or not?
-jj | |
| | | | Re: ISP vs cable service provider? No you won't. It's your TV service provider that matters.
For the record with respect to other posts:
- TWC and TW are indeed two completely different companies...and this little drama pretty much proves it.
- Also, you can download HBO shows from iTunes and Amazon for a per-episode or per-season charge | |
| | | | | Piracy vs Legit Ok, so I do have HBO via TWC, but I cannot access it while I'm not home. For around a year now, I have exercised my right to fair use by downloading copies of HBO shows via shall we say "illegitimate means" to compensate. A little while ago, I started seeing advertisements for HBO Go and I was thinking, "Oh, good. This would be a fine way for me to be able to access these shows while I'm at my girlfriend's house over the weekend or if I'm out of town for whatever other reason." I guess not though. I checked into it and on www.hbogo.com they said that my service provider isn't supported. This is a stupid decision as I already have another means of getting the program via illegitimate channels over The Internet. I was just thinking it might be in their best interests for people who pay for legitimate access to these programs to be able to access the content without encouraging piracy. I live with my parents, but as it is right now, I see little reason, when I move out, to subscribe to this service. As a paid subscriber, I should be angry that my subscription is paying for content that is being pirated, but, alas, I am not angry. At least I will be able to access the content that is already paid for. Other service providers offer this service and I would think it would be in TWC's best interests to either accept the offer from HBO, or, if they haven't been approached, solicit HBO to offer the service. As a paying customer, I have a choice with 2 options that TWC wouldn't like. These are the following: A. I could switch to a provider (assuming another is offered in my area) that does offer HBO Go or B. I could just drop the service and get the content via illegitimate channels. Neither of these options do TWC any good, so they should probably get on board. My $0.02 anyway | |
| | | | | | Re: Piracy vs Legit Sign this TWC/HBOGO petition now!! »goo.gl/cKcCj | |
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