[opendtv] The Wire Report.ca: Could HBO Nordic foreshadow a standalone HBO Go?

From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: "opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 26 Mar 2014 01:36:52 +0000
Craig might think that the one quote from Bewkes was a fluke or a misprint, so 
here's another:

"'We always talk about variations on a theme,' Pepler said, according to the LA 
Times. 'Maybe HBO Go, with our partners as broadband-only, could evolve some 
day, but not tomorrow. Right now, we are very excited about the enthusiasm 
around Go, the way our customers are embracing it. For right now, we have the 
right model.'"

Same deal. HBO is offering this type of service as stand-alone in Scandinavia 
already. Craig, do you think Pepler is saying "Not only no but hell no"?

Is HBO selling a stand-alone IP package that doesn't require MVPD subscription? 
Yes. Not here yet, at least not here tomorrow, but the answer is still yes.

Bert

-------------------------------------------
http://blog.thewirereport.ca/?p=68

The Wire Report Blog
Canadian telecom and media
Could HBO Nordic foreshadow a standalone HBO Go?
August 6, 2013 by Anja Karadeglija 

One of the next online competitors for your television provider's TV everywhere 
product could be a standalone HBO Go app and website.

While Time Warner Inc. says it has no plans to launch its HBO Go app as a 
standalone online service like Netflix, the company has already done precisely 
that in Scandinavia.

Last summer, HBO launched an online website and app service, called HBO Nordic, 
in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark. The service costs 129 kroner ($22) per 
month, or for a 12-month term, 79 kroner ($13.50) per month, according to its 
website.

Right now, the rest of the world can't get the HBO Go online product unless 
they also subscribe to it through a traditional TV service. But HBO Go could 
emerge as a competitive threat to TV providers around the world.

Mike McGuire, an analyst with Gartner in California, told Wire Report's editor 
Simon Doyle in a phone interview in July that he believes HBO's launch of a 
standalone OTT service is coming, someday.

"Ultimately, all in all, yeah," said McGuire when asked whether a standalone 
HBO Go service is inevitable over the long-term. "The challenge is picking the 
point in time," as well as the right price point, he said.

That could have an impact on companies like Canada's BCE Inc., which plans to 
launch a TV Everywhere service following its purchase of Astral Media and its 
TMN service, which includes the rights to HBO Canada. "I would think they might 
be a little concerned if HBO chose to go over-the-top, so to speak, with an a 
la carte app," McGuire said.

In March, at a Game of Thrones premiere in San Francisco, HBO chief executive 
Richard Pepler shot down suggestions, for now, of a standalone HBO Go app, 
according to a Los Angeles Times report on March 28.

"We always talk about variations on a theme," Pepler said, according to the LA 
Times. "Maybe HBO Go, with our partners as broadband-only, could evolve some 
day, but not tomorrow. Right now, we are very excited about the enthusiasm 
around Go, the way our customers are embracing it. For right now, we have the 
right model."

 
 
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[opendtv] The Wire Report.ca: Could HBO Nordic foreshadow a standalone HBO Go?

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