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This isn't necessarily the whole story though. HBO also had the most pirated show of the first half of the year (Game of Thrones), possibly the whole year. Imag

This isn't necessarily the whole story though. HBO also had the most pirated show of the first half of the year (Game of Thrones), possibly the whole year. Imagine how much greater their subscription numbers might be if they did offer some sort of HBO Go only plan. I would certainly be interested (and I have no intention of ever subscribing to the current cable service).

Steko 14y ago
Look I sympathize, I'm one of the people without cable who would buy HBO Go standalone but there aren't really that many of us. Most of the people pirating GoT are people who (1) have cable and don't want to pay for HBO or (2) have cable and already pay for HBO but just want to watch it whenever/not wait for the long delayed DVD release. One sign of cord cutter growth might be an emerging black market of people selling the use of their HBO subscriptions to people who want to stream the content.
- bicknergseng 14y ago
  Your making a lot of assumptions with no reasoning to back it up...
- NoPiece 14y ago
  Netflix has 26 million streaming subscribers (via Mashable in April http://mashable.com/2012/04/23/netflix-26m-subscribers/ http://mashable.com/2012/04/23/netflix-26m-subscribers/), HBO has 29 million cable subscribers (via wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HBO http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HBO) The streaming space may not be as profitable for HBO, but I don't think it is a problem that there aren't many of us that would want it standalone.
  - Steko 14y ago
    There's really no telling how many Netflix people also have cable. I'm guessing a lot. In my state, 95% of the population has cable and I'm guessing a fair number of the other 5% are poor, ok with just broadcast or don't even have a tv (or watch it) for various reasons. Sure there's some like me but what 1%? Nationwide the number with cable is closer to 88%-90% I think but we're still talking 1-3% for cord cutters of which only a fraction are going to be paying for HBO.
    - NoPiece 14y ago
      I agree most Netflix users probably have cable, and won't cut cable until there is a critical mass of content available online. I do think there is a tipping point not that far off, and when it happens the businesses that are already well established online like Netflix are best positioned to reap the rewards. HBO can position itself in resistance to the change, but risk being caught flat footed when it happens.
      - Steko 14y ago
        "businesses that are already well established online like Netflix are best positioned to reap the rewards" Netflix is in a tight spot where in some delivery schemes they are an extra middleman that could end up being unneeded. Content -> Netflix -> Apple -> Users can very quickly collapse to Content -> Apple -> Users. So if the sea change comes from a wildly popular new Apple Smart TV that's bad news for Netflix. The same thing is going to be true if the cable companies manage to transfer their current cable monopoly to content on demand. The "best positioned businesses" are probably the content producers because Content -> Users is realistic long term model. Which is why Netflix is ramping up their own content (Lillehammer, House of Cards, Arrested Development...). That said even traditional content is under attack from all corners -- YouTube is commonly cited but there's also traditional console gaming, social apps, the social gaming apps, etc. In a few years I think we'll see more and more content startups based around animation-on-the-cheap tools like the forthcoming Source Filmmaker or NME (Taiwan Animated News). You could probably do a startup today that filled a cable channel with South Park quality original animation. Yes, that's very limited graphically but the competition (very low fee cable channels) is pretty godawful.
        NoPiece 14y ago
        Content producers are positioned well in theory, but in reality are ill equipped to compete because their whole business is build around old dying models. See how the majors in the music industry have fared. It is near impossible for big media companies to make major business shifts - they just don't have the culture to support it. Also, I'm not sure I'd call them content producers; they are more content financiers and distributors. Control of distribution is probably their main competitive advantage, which may be why they feel so threatened by the idea of shifting to the internet.
danielweber 14y ago
HBO is in the position to know. And what they are doing seems to be working out the best for them. It's possible they are wrong, but if they are wrong they will be the ones suffering the consequences. If someone on the Internet saying "let me pay $10 and I'll buy it (maybe) and so will a bunch of other people" are wrong, they won't suffer the bad side effects. It's like people complaining that NBC is hosting the "buggy-whip" Olympics when NBC is getting record high ratings. Maybe the people actually running the business actually know what they are doing.
- MartinCron 14y ago
  Maybe the people actually running the business actually know what they are doing. A lot of people are having trouble with the idea of what's best for HBO not aligning with their own self-interest.
  - nitrogen 14y ago
    There's no shame in trying to change the world to look the way you want it to look, so long as it doesn't come at the expense of other individuals. If people want the world of video entertainment to move entirely online, why shouldn't they try to make that happen?
    - MartinCron 14y ago
      I think they should try to make it happen, absolutely. I just think the "those people are fools refusing the money that I'm trying to give them (as long as it is on my terms)" argument is pretty shallow.
- waterlesscloud 14y ago
  What HBO is doing is working for them. We don't know that it's "the best", and we won't until they try something different.
- Symmetry 14y ago
  HBO is in a position to know, but HBO isn't in a position to make decisions on the basis of what benefits HBO. Rather, HBO has to do what's best for Time Warner as a whole regardless of whether what they decide is in HBO's interest.

Steko 14y ago

Look I sympathize, I'm one of the people without cable who would buy HBO Go standalone but there aren't really that many of us. Most of the people pirating GoT are people who (1) have cable and don't want to pay for HBO or (2) have cable and already pay for HBO but just want to watch it whenever/not wait for the long delayed DVD release. One sign of cord cutter growth might be an emerging black market of people selling the use of their HBO subscriptions to people who want to stream the content.

bicknergseng 14y ago
Your making a lot of assumptions with no reasoning to back it up...
NoPiece 14y ago
Netflix has 26 million streaming subscribers (via Mashable in April http://mashable.com/2012/04/23/netflix-26m-subscribers/ http://mashable.com/2012/04/23/netflix-26m-subscribers/), HBO has 29 million cable subscribers (via wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HBO http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HBO) The streaming space may not be as profitable for HBO, but I don't think it is a problem that there aren't many of us that would want it standalone.
- Steko 14y ago
  There's really no telling how many Netflix people also have cable. I'm guessing a lot. In my state, 95% of the population has cable and I'm guessing a fair number of the other 5% are poor, ok with just broadcast or don't even have a tv (or watch it) for various reasons. Sure there's some like me but what 1%? Nationwide the number with cable is closer to 88%-90% I think but we're still talking 1-3% for cord cutters of which only a fraction are going to be paying for HBO.
  - NoPiece 14y ago
    I agree most Netflix users probably have cable, and won't cut cable until there is a critical mass of content available online. I do think there is a tipping point not that far off, and when it happens the businesses that are already well established online like Netflix are best positioned to reap the rewards. HBO can position itself in resistance to the change, but risk being caught flat footed when it happens.
    - Steko 14y ago
      "businesses that are already well established online like Netflix are best positioned to reap the rewards" Netflix is in a tight spot where in some delivery schemes they are an extra middleman that could end up being unneeded. Content -> Netflix -> Apple -> Users can very quickly collapse to Content -> Apple -> Users. So if the sea change comes from a wildly popular new Apple Smart TV that's bad news for Netflix. The same thing is going to be true if the cable companies manage to transfer their current cable monopoly to content on demand. The "best positioned businesses" are probably the content producers because Content -> Users is realistic long term model. Which is why Netflix is ramping up their own content (Lillehammer, House of Cards, Arrested Development...). That said even traditional content is under attack from all corners -- YouTube is commonly cited but there's also traditional console gaming, social apps, the social gaming apps, etc. In a few years I think we'll see more and more content startups based around animation-on-the-cheap tools like the forthcoming Source Filmmaker or NME (Taiwan Animated News). You could probably do a startup today that filled a cable channel with South Park quality original animation. Yes, that's very limited graphically but the competition (very low fee cable channels) is pretty godawful.
      - NoPiece 14y ago
        Content producers are positioned well in theory, but in reality are ill equipped to compete because their whole business is build around old dying models. See how the majors in the music industry have fared. It is near impossible for big media companies to make major business shifts - they just don't have the culture to support it. Also, I'm not sure I'd call them content producers; they are more content financiers and distributors. Control of distribution is probably their main competitive advantage, which may be why they feel so threatened by the idea of shifting to the internet.

danielweber 14y ago

HBO is in the position to know. And what they are doing seems to be working out the best for them. It's possible they are wrong, but if they are wrong they will be the ones suffering the consequences. If someone on the Internet saying "let me pay $10 and I'll buy it (maybe) and so will a bunch of other people" are wrong, they won't suffer the bad side effects. It's like people complaining that NBC is hosting the "buggy-whip" Olympics when NBC is getting record high ratings. Maybe the people actually running the business actually know what they are doing.

MartinCron 14y ago
Maybe the people actually running the business actually know what they are doing. A lot of people are having trouble with the idea of what's best for HBO not aligning with their own self-interest.
- nitrogen 14y ago
  There's no shame in trying to change the world to look the way you want it to look, so long as it doesn't come at the expense of other individuals. If people want the world of video entertainment to move entirely online, why shouldn't they try to make that happen?
  - MartinCron 14y ago
    I think they should try to make it happen, absolutely. I just think the "those people are fools refusing the money that I'm trying to give them (as long as it is on my terms)" argument is pretty shallow.
waterlesscloud 14y ago
What HBO is doing is working for them. We don't know that it's "the best", and we won't until they try something different.
Symmetry 14y ago
HBO is in a position to know, but HBO isn't in a position to make decisions on the basis of what benefits HBO. Rather, HBO has to do what's best for Time Warner as a whole regardless of whether what they decide is in HBO's interest.