One of the biggest criticisms of HBO is its lack of online streaming. Even HBO GO, which is essentially HBO’s version of Netflix, can only be purchased if you already have an HBO subscription with a traditional cable or satellite provider. In today’s world, TV shows and other media that are not available online are the most likely candidates for piracy. In other words, there is strong evidence that the reason people pirate is because they do not have a means of watching the content legally. And HBO is the biggest offender. However, this may start to change, as Amazon has announced a content licensing agreement that will bring some HBO shows to Amazon Prime subscribers for online streaming. It is not a perfect solution, but it is HBO’s first step into a completely online platform.
The announcement was made this Wednesday, and the first shows will be available on Amazon on May 21st this year. Unfortunately, only older HBO shows, such as The Sopranos, The Wire, Band of Brothers, and Too Big to Fail will be licensed. Any currently airing shows are not part of the deal. (Sorry Game of Thrones fans.) In addition, previous seasons of currently airing shows will become available three years after they have finished airing. All in all, it seems HBO is still making itself an exclusive provider for all of its current programming, which means you still need a cable or satellite subscription for most of their content. It has also not been specified whether HBO content will be available to Amazon Prime users outside the United States. However, as an added bonus, HBO on Amazon Prime will not only be available to Amazon Instant Video users, but also to Amazon Fire TV owners. Amazon Fire TV is Amazon’s set-top box that allows users to bring streaming content to their television, similar to Google TV and Apple TV that came before it.
On the other side of the equation, this release is big news for Amazon Prime. Amazon was recently under fire for raising the price of Amazon Prime from $79 a year to $99 annually. Amazon blamed the increase on fuel and shipping costs, since one of the main benefits of Amazon Prime is free two-day shipping on all Amazon purchases. With HBO content, an Amazon Prime subscription becomes much more attractive. Earlier this year, Amazon released pilots for its own original TV shows to be released on Amazon Prime, most likely in an attempt to compete with Netflix. Now with HBO content, Amazon Prime has gained another edge over Netflix. And considering Amazon Prime is only 33 cents a month more expensive than Netflix, some users may begin considering a switch.
Bejamin Mogil, an analyst for Stifel, commented on the news as “clearly a negative for Netflix, given the high profile nature of the HBO content”. However, it is too early to determine how much of a benefit this deal will be to Amazon Prime. Netflix is extremely popular, accounting for a large percentage of all Internet traffic, and it will take a lot to get users to consider switching away from it to Amazon Prime. At the very least, this new content license shows HBO is starting to warm up to the idea of online streaming. With any luck, HBO fans will see more online HBO content in the near future, and will not have to rely on piracy.
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