HBO Go: Another Challenge to Netflix? 4M Downloads and Coming Soon to Consoles & TVs

[winston]

thanks Wooch, you answered a few question's that I had about this (HBO GO) now I understand the game plan

[Woochifer]

thanks Wooch, you answered a few question's that I had about this (HBO GO) now I understand the game plan

I think HBO's launching the online platform initially as a customer retention measure. Unless they score another runaway hit series on the level of The Sopranos, their subscriber count has topped out (it has remained somewhere around 28 million since 2005).

The online platform is their way of controlling content, since HBO's fortunes now depend almost entirely on their original programs (didn't know this earlier, but HBO has had more Emmy nominations than any other network for 11 straight years). Judging from how HBO recently opted out of their deal with Dreamworks Animation, it seems that studio movies are now more for filler than anything.

While Showtime and Starz sold the streaming rights to their original programs to Netflix and other streaming providers, HBO has chosen to hold onto their programs. Starz also had the streaming rights to movies from Sony and Disney, and they sold them to Netflix.

By creating their own platform, HBO still retains the option to sell the rights to their original programs to other streaming providers like Netflix or Amazon. But, they also have the option of later spinning HBO Go into a standalone subscription site, where anyone without cable/satellite can subscribe.

Will definitely be interesting to see how this all plays out.