HBO will launch its web-only subscription service starting 2015, which will not require a pay-TV subscription. Basically, it will be a digital version of its current subscription, not requiring its customers to sign up for cable to be able to follow popular HBO series like Game of Thrones, for example. Through this move the channel seeks to attract a younger generation of customers, more likely to prefer a digital subscription similar to Netflix to a traditional cable contract.
The announcement of HBO’s new “stand alone, over the top” service was made at a Time Warner investors’ event on Wednesday, by HBO CEO Richard Plepler. The new product, not requiring a pay TV subscription, will become available starting next year. This will most likely mean that HBO digital subscribers will have the chance to follow some of the most popular HBO original programmings, like The Sopranos, Six Feet Under and, of course, Game of Thrones, similar to the model used by Netflix to offer its subscribers its original content. The move might also limit piracy a bit – instead of just downloading the latest episode of the Game of Thrones (that has broken every previous piracy record during its fourth season), fans might simply subscribe to the new HBO service and watch the show online.
HBO’s move to offer a digital-only subscription service is most likely a response to the rise of Netflix, with more than 50 million subscribers in the US only. Besides, it will generate much more revenue for HBO as well. Going digital will have a series of advantages for the provider, like reaching subscribers who are not inclined to pay for a full bundle of pay TV channels or have no access to such services at all. It is currently not known in what form the content will be delivered to the subscribers. Some sources say that HBO will develop its own content delivery technology, others consider it more likely for it to collaborate with existing companies – like Hulu and Amazon for example – to do so. One thing is for sure: there are 80 million homes in the US that don’t have HBO, and the company is determined to do everything to reach out to them.