I ditched cable a while ago, but wasn't willing to give up watching some HBO shows, so I convinced myself that pirating them was 'ok,' since that was 'the only for me to get them.' I later realized that my attitude was hypocritical, that I just wanted to have my cake and eat it too. I stopped pirating their shows then, and have definitely missed some of them.<p>So I am excited about this, and will subscribe as soon as it is available. I'll get to catch up on Game of Thrones now!
This is really great news for me (I "cut the cable" a couple of years ago). I was thrilled when HBO released a lot of content on Amazon Prime. I've been buying content they haven't released on Prime through Amazon streaming (Silicon Valley, Game of Thrones). I have been anxiously awaiting the day where I could buy a "season pass" for current run HBO content.<p>I've concluded there were a few benefits HBO got from their close relationship with cable companies:
1) The huge customer base that cable companies have
2) The advertising that cable companies provide
3) The distribution of content that cable companies provide<p>I always felt the release of content to Amazon Prime was an experiment and judging by this news, I think that experiment was deemed a success. I suspect that HBO concluded that Amazon is more than capable of distributing the content and that there are plenty of customers willing to pay for it when it's delivered by a means other than the cable company.<p>I still suspect that Amazon will play a role in hosting and distributing content for whatever "HBO Go" becomes one year from now.
Now this just needs to happen with other TV networks.<p>For example, I'd love to pay AMC Networks[0], A&E Networks[1], or NBC Universal[2] a nominal monthly fee to access their catalogs on-demand.<p>While it's true that these networks stream some of their current shows online, the players and streaming experience is usually very terrible.<p>That's how I want to the future to be: everything is like Netflix or HBO-sans-cable. Maybe even eliminate, or at least reduce commercials.<p>And it's not exactly a-la-carte, because most channels aren't individual networks. And most shows are perfectly suited for on-demand viewing. There are very few things I watch that are actually "broadcast" live (news and sports are pretty much it). All I'm suggesting is that we bypass the cable companies and pay the publishers directly for content. I'd pay good money to an Internet Service Provider who gives me a fast and stable connection to the publisher's servers.<p>The flip side of all this choice is that it's no longer dead-simple for consumers. It sure is convenient to simply pay Comcast $100 a month and they take care of getting all of these networks and publishers into my home in one box with one remote control. Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon apps are fairly ubiquitous on pretty much every platform including built right into many TVs. I doubt traditional TV networks want to invest in that technology.<p>[0] <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMC_Networks" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMC_Networks</a><p>[1] <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A%26E_Networks" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A%26E_Networks</a><p>[2] <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBCUniversal_Cable" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBCUniversal_Cable</a>
So this only matters if the video stream can actually be delivered to your house with reasonably good bandwidth. I hope there isn't someone between your house and HBO's servers who has an interest in degrading that traffic!
It is about damn time.<p>Welcome to the present, HBO. I am assuming this move is in part to the massively high piracy rate for Game of Thrones episodes. As an Australian resident with no real access to current episodes of Game of Thrones without getting cable TV, I hope they do come through on delivering the service overseas (especially Australia), because if the price is right, I will gladly pay for HD episodes of Game of Thrones (amongst other great HBO shows like True Detective).
Seems like they're finally embracing the philosophy to fighting piracy from Kim Dotcom:<p>How to stop piracy:<p>1. Create great content<p>2. Make it easy to buy<p>3. Same day global release<p>4. Works on any device<p>5. Fair price
I cut the cord 3 years ago and regularly pay 2 dollars an episode for shows I want to watch. I own several rokus and pay for prime, hulu (occasionally) and netflix (occasionally). I have never been happier with my tv/media consumption.<p>Hulu is the only thing I would like to replace... I have no tolerance for ads... I'd pay more to get rid of them. I don't know how anyone watches regular tv (unless it's with a DVR).
Cable TV contracts are typically very long (5-7 years) so I'm wondering if this is partly due to some existing contract coming up for renegotiation.<p>Anyhow, if HBO starts selling their content directly, that's going to give them some leverage for better terms with MSOs.
What would really be groundbreaking is to allow non-US based viewers to subscribe to the service, without any type of geo fence. I would be happy to pay for the service as a European consumer. That would mean no more GoT torrenting for me.
I've spent the last 5+ years using subscription models. I'm about done with them. Disappearing content. Inconvenient or no access at times and places. Increasingly feeling I've been funding the very "editing" and abuse I've wanted to escape.<p>My personal conclusion is that the money would have been better spent just gradually building up my own library. And, were it closer, in supporting my local library.<p>In other words: Too little, too late, for me.
Glad to hear it.<p>For the time being, for anyone with Amazon Prime, the HBO collection isn't bad: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/b?node=9097393011" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/b?node=9097393011</a><p>It's not nearly as complete or up-to-date as HBO go of course, but it has lot of the most popular shows.<p>We have HBO go and actually use Amazon prime to watch HBO shows since Comcast has yet to support logging into HBO go on PS3.
I would have cut my cable years ago if I could have gotten current episodes of True Blood and The Walking Dead through streaming services.<p>This is a step in the right direction. Comcast and Verizon must be quaking in their boots because as more networks decide to go the direct distribution route, the less necessary their TV distribution services will become.
HBO has enough good content that I keep subscribing to cable to get it. I have zero interest in sports (ESPN). So for me, this is the end of my cable subscription.<p>This is the beginning of the end for cable. And hopefully also for propaganda stations like Fox News.
Hopefully they will decide not to be yet another island and also work with Netflix. I'd be perfectly happy paying the subscription fee to Netflix and being able to see the content through the existing Netflix apps I have everywhere.
This has been pretty much the only reason I keep expensive cable services.<p>The only thing that will keep me away is if the price is a lot more expensive than the $14 a month I a currently paying for HBO.