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There are about 30-40 million Americans who watch HBO shows legally, and we agree, a lot of them would be happy to pay us directly. If we went, as you put it, “
by ctdonath 14y ago
There are about 30-40 million Americans who watch HBO shows legally, and we agree, a lot of them would be happy to pay us directly. If we went, as you put it, “cable-optional,” we’d be breaking our existing, mega-million-dollar contracts with our current partners, and from what we’ve seen, they wouldn’t be too happy about that.
Kodak said exactly the same thing about digital photography vs retail film sales. The then-$17B/yr company just this month sold their remaining essence for $0.5B.
Remember who your actual customers are.
- ollysb 14y agoThe transition from cable to internet for TV consumption probably has a while to play out yet. I'm sure HBO are exploring many scenarios for the future.
- ctdonath 14y agoKodak was exploring future options too. The actual future arrived a lot sooner than they expected.
- ollysb 14y agoThe difference is that HBO are still making a product that people want. It's the distribution channel that's in danger of dying out not the producer. As long as HBO are making shows people want to watch they'll be just fine.