HBO stands alone

Cable cutters take note!

HBO is finally going to offer a subscription to their network without having to have a cable or satellite contract. I predict this will result in quite a number of customers terminating their cable or satellite contracts. 

Maybe if enough of their customers leave, Comcast (my current provider) will finally cut their prices and increase the options to try and retain them. The big key, in my mind, is a high-speed internet-only arrangement that won't break the bank. 

HBO announced Wednesday that it would start a stand-alone Internet streaming service in the United States in 2015 that would not require a subscription to a traditional television service, a move that intensifies the premium cable network’s growing rivalry with Netflix.

The two companies are battling for a new generation of viewers who increasingly pay only for Internet access. Instead of subscribing to cable or satellite television, this growing audience watches television shows and movies via streaming options like Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, YouTube — and now, potentially, HBO.

Richard Plepler, chief executive of HBO, pointed to 10 million homes in the United States with web service but no traditional cable or satellite television subscriptions — half of which, he said, subscribed to a streaming service.

“That is a large and growing opportunity that should no longer be left untapped. It is time to remove all barriers to those who want HBO,” he said. “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.”

HBO’s new service is a direct jab at Netflix and other online rivals like Amazon and Hulu that are disrupting traditional television business models and transforming the way people watch TV.

Several details for HBO’s new service remain to be worked out, including what content is available, the subscription fee and the distribution models. HBO now makes its programming available over the web to paying TV subscribers through its HBO Go service. Executives said that the content available through its new online-only offering would be similar. HBO is unlikely to undercut the $15 monthly rate viewers pay to cable or satellite companies for a subscription to the service, executives said.

more at link here.