A lot of folks have demanded it, and it appears that HBO has finally listened – HBO will be available next year as a standalone service, without the need to buy a cable subscription.
Chairman and CEO Richard Plepler responded to the thousands of requests from fans and stated that the cable channel will launch its own independent streaming service next year to compete with the likes of Netflix and Hulu Plus.
“That is a large and growing opportunity that should no longer be untapped,” he said. “It is time to remove all barriers to those who want HBO.”
A service in conjunction with “current partners” will be put together for the U.S. market next year, although Plepler stopped just short of confirming what kind of monthly subscription price plan would be put in place. He also didn’t confirm what kind of technology the service would use, although the “partners” could certainly help out on that front.
“All in, there are 80 million homes that do not have HBO and we will use all means at our disposal to go after them,” he said.
Between demands of the fans, a slight decrease in pay TV buys, and the rise of Netflix’s business model, it shouldn’t be a surprise that HBO has finally caved in to the demand of introducing a streaming service, especially one that could base its success around such exclusive programming as Last Week Tonight With John Oliver and the returning Game of Thrones.
Now the only question comes with the price. In some markets, HBO packages can go for as high as $60 a month. Obviously, HBO Go would have to go for a lesser price in order to seem more like a value, but there’s a question as to whether the service would just be home for HBO original programming, or also movies and specials that make their premiere on the channel.
We’re likely to find out more information come early next year. But it’s nice to see HBO make the move after so many months of “will they, won’t they.”
