[opendtv] CNET: HBO Now to be sold through Cablevision too
- From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 17 Mar 2015 22:50:30 +0000
Fully expecting Craig to tell me I got it all wrong, contract clauses are the
reason, Apple site available to anyone, whatever, this version of the story
makes exactly the same points I made in my previous port.
Bert
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http://www.cnet.com/news/hbo-now-to-be-sold-through-cablevision-too/
Apple isn't the only game in town anymore. Cablevision will be the first cable
company to offer the premium network online without viewers having to pay for
regular TV.
by Joan E. Solsman
March 16, 2015 1:24 PM PDT
Apple's exclusive launch of HBO Now just became a little less exclusive.
HBO and Cablevision said Monday they would launch the premium network's
online-only streaming service HBO Now through the cable provider's Optimum
Online Internet service.
That means more people than just Apple device owners will be able to sign up
for the service that will stream HBO movies and shows solely via the Internet
-- if they live in the greater New York metropolitan area served by
Cablevision. It will also make Cablevision the first pay-TV provider to offer
HBO Now, even though it creates a route for its video service customers to
become "cord cutters" -- people who forsake cable or satellite TV service in
favor of purely online television viewing.
As consumer viewing habits are shifting to mobile devices and online options,
networks like HBO and pay-TV providers like Cablevision are experimenting with
Internet-based television services despite how these offerings could undermine
their core business of pay-TV subscriptions.
It comes a week after electronics giant Apple unveiled a deal to launch HBO Now
exclusively through its Apple TV over-the-top box, iPad tablet and iPhone. That
deal was an exclusive among "new digital distributors," meaning people who use
rival devices to watch Internet video on their televisions -- like Roku,
Google's Chromecast and Microsoft's Xbox -- won't be able to sign up and stream
through the new service for three months after the April launch date.
Cablevision serves about 3 million total customers in the greater New York
metropolitan area, including 2.8 million Optimum Online broadband customers. By
comparison, Comcast -- the biggest cable company in the US -- has 22.4 million
video service customers and 22 million broadband customers.
Monday, the companies said HBO Now's Cablevision launch would come before April
12's premiere of "Game of Thrones" fifth season. The companies didn't detail
the specific date nor whether the launch timing would differ slightly from
Apple's launch. They also didn't provide a price for HBO Now through
Cablevision's Optimum Online Internet service.
Apple device owners will be able to sign up for HBO Now, which is similar to
the popular HBO Go online companion to a traditional pay-TV package, for $14.99
a month.
A representative for HBO declined to discuss financial terms of the deal and
said specific timing details would be available in the coming weeks.
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