We have been begging HBO for MONTHS if not YEARS to offer their streaming service HBO GO in a standalone subscription version for those of us who can’t afford to buy their (totally exorbitantly priced) cable package. Now, it seems they are finally “seriously considering” making this a possibility.
Last week, at probably otherwise incredibly boring investment conference, CEO of Time Warner Jeff Bewkes was asked by Goldman Sachs analyst Drew Borst if HBO would ever considering offering the streaming service that everyone is begging so that “anybody who’s got a broadband connection can get it for $15 or $20 or whatever the price is.”
This was his (basic) response:
Yes, it’s a really good question. Many of you have asked it. And we ask it all the time and are always looking at it.
The broadband opportunity is getting quite a bit bigger, and the ability of the plant to deliver something robust is getting stronger; and so the question you’re asking is becoming more viable, more interesting.
We’re seriously considering what is the best way to deal with online distribution, but I don’t have anything to announce about it today.
Let’s just hope that if it does actually happen, HBO does not rip us off. They finally have a story that we all want to hear, and they know it.