He thinks they have nailed the math.
Customers could pay $50 a month for their broadband Internet and an extra $10 or $15 for HBO to be packaged in with that service, for a total of $60 or $65 per month, Plepler explained.
When he talks about teaming up with Internet service providers, I suppose Plepler’s referring to the likes of Verizon FiOS, Comcast and Time Warner Cable who typically bundle pay TV with an Internet service.
As I mentioned above, theHBO Go appcurrently requires an HBO subscription through a cable TV provider.
Launched in 2010, the HBO Go service has signed up about 6.5 million users across platforms versus 29 million for HBO’s main service.
I’m not sure bundling HBO subscription with a broadband Internet service is the right answer here – even if the combined price of the two roughly matches a regular cable-only HBO subscription.
Of course, HBO – like other incumbents – has a lot to lose should it antagonize its traditional distribution partners by bypassing their infrastructure to deliver content directly to users’ devices.
On the other hand, the world is changing.
Case in point: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who upon returning from the annual Allen & Company retreat for Hollywood mogulswroteon his Facebook page:“Is there a site that streams the World Cup final online? (I don’t own a TV.)”
Mark is so-called generation C: the types of poeple who’ve been raised on social media, instant messaging and mobile devices. This group wants to consume content anywhere, anytime on any device they happen to be using at any given moment.
And with Silicon Valley giants such as Apple, Amazon, Google, Hulu and Netflix distributing content online, at a fee, die-hards stuck in the old ways will be forced to reduce their dependency on greedy cable operators.
Truth be told, it’s not like content owners aren’t experimenting with new revenue streams.
Another example: CBS has just released a brandnew streaming iOS software, depicted above, which gives you access to its popular shows, either 24 hours after they air or eight days following their initial broadcast, free of charge.
Breaking Hollywood’s will, unfortunately, won’t be easy.
Apple, which according to the rumor-mill is working on a standalone TV set, has had little luck thus far persuading media companies to put their programming for sale on iTunes. Apple’s ultimate goal is to reportedly allow people to just cherry-pick television channels on iTunes, creating their own channel bundles of sorts.
And building an iTV without some premium programming just doesn’t make sense.
I just want to enjoy premium entertainment on any device, whenever I want, without restrictions, and am ready to pay for that privilege.
So Hollywood, is that too much to ask?
Or should I talk to my congressman?
