Cable-Cutters, Rejoice! HBO Will Add A Web-Only Version In 2015
If you’re hooked on True Detective and Game of Thrones, but unhooked from a cable connection, you’ll be happy to know you won’t have to borrow your parents’ HBO Go password for much longer.
At a Time Warner investor meeting today, HBO chairman and CEO Richard Plepler announced that HBO would be adding a web-only portion to the channel’s offerings, finally untethering HBO from the requirement for a full cable package.
Plepler called the service a “standalone, over-the-top” HBO Go subscription, according to The Verge. The service is set to launch in 2015, but Plepler didn’t go into specifics on the time frame.
“This will be transformative for [HBO],” Plepler said. He added that HBO will work with current partners and “explore models with new partners.”
Why is HBO finally deciding to push out a model for cable-cutters, those households that ditch everything but an internet connection? The HBO CEO mentioned in his statement that there are 10 million homes in the United States that pay only for internet access rather than a bundle. That’s 10 million homes that HBO is cut off from, with no hope of turning them into subscribers without a web-only HBO option.
HBO has two other concerns that have been pushing it in the direction of a web-only offering. The first is competition, mainly from Netflix. While HBO has dawdled, Netflix has surged, going worldwide. The premiere video streaming service has more than 50 million subscribers right now, and it plans to add another 50 million over the next two years.
Netflix has also established a foothold in HBO’s own territory, rolling out its own in-house content and winning awards for it. Netflix’s House of Cards, Arrested Development and Orange Is the New Black have gained tons of fans. In addition, Netflix has new content on the way in the form of new shows from Marvel’s successful brand.
There’s also piracy. HBO’s Game of Thrones and True Detective are among the most pirated shows on the entire internet, with non-paying watchers hitting the torrents just hours – and sometimes minutes – after the shows air live on HBO. Opening up a version of HBO to web-only users will no doubt cut down on some of that piracy, as some users just want to access HBO’s content and are willing to pay for that, but not a cable package.
One thing HBO will definitely have to work on, though: its HBO Go site. The current streaming page is light years behind Netflix’s more intuitive design, and HBO has in the past proven that it can’t handle the traffic load of millions of people surfing in at the same time.
