5 ms·

What in the world do they stand to lose by offering Game of Thrones through iTunes or Amazon in a reasonable amount of time? iTunes is already selling it even t

What in the world do they stand to lose by offering Game of Thrones through iTunes or Amazon in a reasonable amount of time? iTunes is already selling it even though it will not actually be available until March. None of us who are waiting for it are going to subscribe to cable in the meantime.

andylei 15y ago
they are afraid that people will cancel their HBO subscriptions and buy just the shows they watch
- Steko 15y ago
  It's half this and half that they want to convert DVD buyers to subscribers so they come out with the DVDs a month before the new season starts. The market for the DVDs is still good (True Blood S3 was the #1 TV show DVD for 2011) and I'm sure they're research tells them they get more from conversions then they lose in DVD sales by opening it up 2 months earlier. And if they started selling DVDs 6 months earlier they'd lose current subscribers like you say.
AJ007 15y ago
I moved this summer. I still haven't resumed cable service. Netflix, iTunes, Amazon Prime, and Hulu are more than enough for me. The only reason I'd resume cable service, incidentally, would be for Game of Thrones season 2. Since I travel so much its likely I would just wait for other options. I don't download torrents. HBO is a golden goose. Its an exception. They produce exceptionally high quality shows. The things that will work for HBO won't work for the other guys. HBO may be able to sell subscriptions directly to users. Their HBO Go app is exceptional, better than Netflix's to a degree. When I travel and sit in a hotel room I wonder why any of us ever paid for this garbage. The amount of advertising sandwiched in to amateur level programming is akin to a 1998 porn site full of pop ups. Its not pretty. Golden geese can become arrogant. If I owned a cable company, any exec who blamed the economy on a drop in subscriptions would be immediately fired. Home Box Office, Inc is owned by Time Warner. Because of that, I have a feeling the golden goose will ultimately end up going down with the ship it is caged in.
erichocean 15y ago
> None of us who are waiting for it are going to subscribe to cable in the meantime. I did, and I just finished watching all 10 season one episodes of Game of Thrones in HD. And you know what? It was worth it. I love that show. :)

andylei 15y ago

they are afraid that people will cancel their HBO subscriptions and buy just the shows they watch

Steko 15y ago
It's half this and half that they want to convert DVD buyers to subscribers so they come out with the DVDs a month before the new season starts. The market for the DVDs is still good (True Blood S3 was the #1 TV show DVD for 2011) and I'm sure they're research tells them they get more from conversions then they lose in DVD sales by opening it up 2 months earlier. And if they started selling DVDs 6 months earlier they'd lose current subscribers like you say.

AJ007 15y ago

I moved this summer. I still haven't resumed cable service. Netflix, iTunes, Amazon Prime, and Hulu are more than enough for me. The only reason I'd resume cable service, incidentally, would be for Game of Thrones season 2. Since I travel so much its likely I would just wait for other options. I don't download torrents. HBO is a golden goose. Its an exception. They produce exceptionally high quality shows. The things that will work for HBO won't work for the other guys. HBO may be able to sell subscriptions directly to users. Their HBO Go app is exceptional, better than Netflix's to a degree. When I travel and sit in a hotel room I wonder why any of us ever paid for this garbage. The amount of advertising sandwiched in to amateur level programming is akin to a 1998 porn site full of pop ups. Its not pretty. Golden geese can become arrogant. If I owned a cable company, any exec who blamed the economy on a drop in subscriptions would be immediately fired. Home Box Office, Inc is owned by Time Warner. Because of that, I have a feeling the golden goose will ultimately end up going down with the ship it is caged in.

erichocean 15y ago

> None of us who are waiting for it are going to subscribe to cable in the meantime. I did, and I just finished watching all 10 season one episodes of Game of Thrones in HD. And you know what? It was worth it. I love that show. :)