HBO’s online on demand service, HBO Go, is already available on computers and mobile devices, but soon, you’ll be able to watch HBO on your televi… (trails off). But wait, can’t you already do that? Isn’t HBO On Demand already available on various cable television providers? Seeing how that’s the case, apparently, you can never have too much HBO, because HBO Go will soon be available on web-connected televisions and game consoles.
It’s actually a little bit more to the story than that, but it looks like HBO is moving forward on their “TV Everywhere” program, which would allow subscribers access to HBO’s content on just about any connected device. The report comes courtesy of a GigaOm article, which references an HBO company call headed by CEO Jeff “I Hate Netflix” Bewkes.
In order to receive access to HBO Go‘s content, you have to have an existing HBO subscription, courtesy of your cable/satellite provider. From here, existing customers are allowed to register with the on-demand web service. The question remains, with HBO On Demand still going strong when it’s offered by providers, what purpose does the HBO Go expansion serve? Does making it available to web-connected televisions really necessary, when, in all likelihood, that TV is already connected with a subscription that gives them access to HBO On Demand?
Or is this some kind of consolidation move that takes the on demand aspect out of the hands of the cable providers? Lots of questions and not a lot of answers, although, the following snippet from GigaOm’s post may shed some light:
And according to Bewkes, Time Warner’s research shows that HBO Go users watch even more of the network’s content than those who don’t take advantage of the service.
So, wait? People who use HBO Go watch more HBO content than those who don’t? You don’t say? Forgive the sarcasm, but that almost sounds like a “water is wet” revelation.
As it stands, there was no particular date in mind during the discussion of HBO Go’s expansion, just that it’s coming. Perhaps this is simply a consolidation move on HBO’s part, one that will do away with all of the different titles for essentially the same service. Allow us to celebrate the news with this incredible 1983 intro/promo video for an HBO feature presentation:
Can it be that it was all so simple then?
