HBO TO launch Sans Free Cable Service (2015)

[R3P0]

It has begun...

HBO to Launch Standalone Streaming Service in 2015

HBO will launch a stand-alone streaming service in 2015, Richard Plepler, chairman and CEO of HBO, announced Wednesday at a Time Warner investor meeting. "It is time to remove all barriers to those who want HBO," he said. “So, in 2015, we will launch a stand-alone, over-the-top, HBO service in the United States ... 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.” That is good news for fans of series like "Game of Thrones" — the most illegally downloaded show of 2013 — who will no longer need to pay for HBO on top of their regular cable bill (or steal their friend's HBO GO password). The new HBO streaming service will face stiff competition from Netflix and Amazon Prime Instant Video, which have invested heavily in their own original programming with critical hits like "House of Cards" and "Transparent."

[Scarface32]

How much?

[Elandyll]

Originally Posted by Scarface32

How much?

A pure guess would probably be $17+/m (I think the current price is $17/month on DirecTV, for 10 channels, which are mostly the same programs at different schedules, or some differing targets in audience for some, eg more Family oriented for one), so that they do not alienate the cable companies too much by competing at a discounted price.

Reminder: HBO is not just "Premium" TV series (or concerts / Comedian exclusive recordings). They also have movies quite often only a mere year after their release in theaters / 6-8 months after releasing on video (This month they are featuring Riddick, Prisoners, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Dallas Buyers Club, 12 Years a Slave, Rush as their most recent offerings, alongside other movies).

[dyne]

How long before the ISP's start changing them for better interconnects like Netflix?

[R3P0]

Originally Posted by Elandyll

A pure guess would probably be $17+/m (I think the current price is $17/month on DirecTV, for 10 channels, which are mostly the same programs at different schedules, or some differing targets in audience for some, eg more Family oriented for one), so that they do not alienate the cable companies too much by competing at a discounted price.

Reminder: HBO is not just "Premium" TV series (or concerts / Comedian exclusive recordings). They also have movies quite often only a mere year after their release in theaters / 6-8 months after releasing on video (This month they are featuring Riddick, Prisoners, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Dallas Buyers Club, 12 Years a Slave, Rush as their most recent offerings, alongside other movies).

They are looking to compete with Netflix and Amazon so probably between 10-17 dollars a month

[djariya]

I have HBO via Directv and it's $17.99 per month. I think $15-20 would be a fair assessment. But they have some logistics to work out.

Even though HBO is doing this, there is still a long way to go before a la carte channels will become more prevalent & make sense financially. I mean is every individual cable channel (both premium and basic) going to start their own a la carte online channel now? How many pay streaming channels will people be willing to subscribe to per month to get the content they want? I mean are people going to spend money on separate TNT, FX, AMC, Food Network, Showtime, Cinemax, Travel channel channels at $10-15 per month each? Where do you draw the line?

I have over 200+ channels and I'm sure I only watch a fraction of them on a regular basis, but for me at least convenience-wise, it's more convenient having them all there for me than having to keep track of several different streaming services and seeing which service has what content I want to see (which this could potentially lead to)

[mysticwaterfall]

If its not 10$ or less per month, the majority of people aren't going to bother.

[Carlanga]

Since amz has some of the HBO shows already, they will need to price aggressively to get people in this market. People have been complaining for years now about a la carte tv, HBO has decided to try it out.

I can see them charge $9.99 a month for it, anything higher and you won't get people from netflix or amazon to consider adding it to their tv allotment. HBO has done good being the first, they can adjust and even get much more people than other networks that have not done the move. I can see this being bad also if all networks charge ridiculous pricing, we will stop having complete tv shows in subscription networks like netflix and amazon.

[BeastCreatureTrapper]

Originally Posted by djariya

I have HBO via Directv and it's $17.99 per month. I think $15-20 would be a fair assessment. But they have some logistics to work out.

Even though HBO is doing this, there is still a long way to go before a la carte channels will become more prevalent & make sense financially. I mean is every individual cable channel (both premium and basic) going to start their own a la carte online channel now? How many pay streaming channels will people be willing to subscribe to per month to get the content they want? I mean are people going to spend money on separate TNT, FX, AMC, Food Network, Showtime, Cinemax, Travel channel channels at $10-15 per month each? Where do you draw the line?

I have over 200+ channels and I'm sure I only watch a fraction of them on a regular basis, but for me at least convenience-wise, it's more convenient having them all there for me than having to keep track of several different streaming services and seeing which service has what content I want to see (which this could potentially lead to)

Maybe it will one day come down to buying just the shows you want. They give you a preview episode (or two) and if you like it, it's added to your playlist/account.

I've heard much speculation that this will not be a clone of HBO GO, but rather a service that has no back-catalog of shows, and which only streams the current seasons, with anywhere from a one-day to one-week delay from their respetive original airings.

If that's the case, even at $15-$20/month, I think this is going to be a harder sell out of the gate than HBO is planning on.

[djariya]

http://online.wsj.com/articles/hbo-t...ice-1413385733

According to the Wall Street Journal, the minimum cost per month will be $15. They still have a lot of logistics to work out.

[djariya]

Originally Posted by BeastCreatureTrapper

Maybe it will one day come down to buying just the shows you want. They give you a preview episode (or two) and if you like it, it's added to your playlist/account.

I've heard much speculation that this will not be a clone of HBO GO, but rather a service that has no back-catalog of shows, and which only streams the current seasons, with anywhere from a one-day to one-week delay from their respetive original airings.

If that's the case, even at $15-$20/month, I think this is going to be a harder sell out of the gate than HBO is planning on.

People already have that option via Amazon or ITunes. Costs $30-40 for a full season or $2.99 per episode in HD. Even that can get really expensive if you watch a lot of shows.

[BeastCreatureTrapper]

Originally Posted by djariya

People already have that option via Amazon or ITunes. Costs $30-40 for a full season or $2.99 per episode in HD. Even that can get really expensive if you watch a lot of shows.

Yes, but those are episodes that are at least owned for future use. Once purchased, users can stream them whenever they choose. It is expensive, yes, but at least a better option for certain shows. I think it works best for shows not currently in release on home video. Those fringe reality shows.

For the top-tier shows, I have the patience to just wait for the blu-ray release.

I get the sense that all you will get with this new HBO service is lost once you cancel the account.

[540Blue]

Originally Posted by djariya

http://online.wsj.com/articles/hbo-t...ice-1413385733

According to the Wall Street Journal, the minimum cost per month will be $15. They still have a lot of logistics to work out.

If true, then it's not worth it for me. I pay $18 a month now so 2-3 dollars in savings isn't going to make much of a difference when I already have access to the channels and the online streaming.

[Noahishere]

Yeah, there's no way people are going to pay 15 a month for that service. It needs to be 9.99 like WWE Network style for it to even have a chance of getting a mass of subscribers.

People are already content with their Netflix subscriptions and waiting on blu-ray's or dvd's for their favorite shows. I don't see this being a huge thing unless HBO takes a risk and offers it for like 7.99 for a while.

[JeffTheMovieGuy]

I've been wanting to do away with my Comcast but I don't want to lose my HBO so this is right up my alley.

[dyne]

This ala carte thing always sounds good in theory until you factor in liking 5-10 channels at $10-15 each. That's a cable bill right there. You also have to figure there's no way they'll let you do one month. I'm sure it'll be a 6 month minimum commitment so right there anybody just interested in GoT's is paying $90 for one show that's 10(?) episodes?

[Carlanga]

Originally Posted by djariya

http://online.wsj.com/articles/hbo-t...ice-1413385733

According to the Wall Street Journal, the minimum cost per month will be $15. They still have a lot of logistics to work out.

I think is just feeling the market w that price range, amz did similar when they wanted to raise prices and others. So when the real price (prob $9.99) comes you will like it more.

Originally Posted by dyne

This ala carte thing always sounds good in theory until you factor in liking 5-10 channels at $10-15 each. That's a cable bill right there. You also have to figure there's no way they'll let you do one month. I'm sure it'll be a 6 month minimum commitment so right there anybody just interested in GoT's is paying $90 for one show that's 10(?) episodes?

Yes and No, HBO is a premium channel w no commercials during the show. If they all start charging $10 w/out commercials then you have full shows w no ads.

My guess IF a la carte works then you get $9.99 premium channels w no commercials while the show is running and $4.99 for channels w commercials breaks. Wouldn't surprise me if viacom for example did a bundle instead of separate channels for $15-20 a month for all their channels

[Tony208]

Best news I've heard all month. A couple more channels do this and I can drop the TV subscription.

[BeastCreatureTrapper]

Update: HBO Now is looking to launch in April: http://www.ibtimes.com/hbo-talks-app...lusive-1835882

Not too many details leaked, but the $15 price point seems to be fairly certified.

If the HBO back catalog is included with Now, it will be a great price point to keep people tuned in well after the current season of Game of Thrones has ended.

If not, then HBO can expect a whirlwind of subscriptions in April, and cancellations en masse in June.

[fatediesel]

Originally Posted by BeastCreatureTrapper

Update: HBO Now is looking to launch in April: http://www.ibtimes.com/hbo-talks-app...lusive-1835882

Not too many details leaked, but the $15 price point seems to be fairly certified.

If the HBO back catalog is included with Now, it will be a great price point to keep people tuned in well after the current season of Game of Thrones has ended.

If not, then HBO can expect a whirlwind of subscriptions in April, and cancellations en masse in June.

I think regardless of whether the back catalog is included (I expect it would be) a lot of people will cancel once the seasons of shows they watch end since much of the back catalog is included with Amazon Prime. I could see people keeping it active since True Detective (and The Leftovers) should be starting soon after Game of Thrones ends, but I can see mass cancellations by the fall when HBO doesn't have any established hits airing.