Time Warner to launch HBO as streaming broadband service

Viewers longing to watch “Game of Thrones”, “True Detective” and “Veep” will no longer have to pay big bucks for cable and satellite contracts. Next year HBO is cutting the cord and selling its popular streaming video service HBO Go as a stand-alone product, as more Americans choose to watch the Web, not the TV. HBO CEO Richard Plepler said Wednesday that the move is aimed at targeting the 80 million homes in the U.S. that do not have HBO but may want access to its content - and especially the nation’s 10 million broadband-only homes.

That is a large and growing opportunity that should no longer be left untapped. It is time to remove all barriers to those who want HBO.

HBO CEO Richard Plepler

The decision to finally free HBO comes as Time Warner is under pressure to boost its share price after it rebuffed an $85 per share offer from Rupert Murdoch’s Twenty-First Century Fox in August. Cable and satellite providers have long been against the unbundling of TV channel packages because they wouldn’t be able to charge as much for an a la carte menu of stations. Streaming services like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Instant Video have rapidly grown in popularity. About 40 per cent of online adults stream video on their television, according to analyst Forrester, through services like Roku, Apple TV and others.

HBO and ESPN are the two main reasons why people have cable and satellite TV. The whole industry has eyed them for years nervous that one day they would decide to do exactly what they said they’ll do in 2015.

Forrester analyst James McQuivey

HBO Business