[opendtv] Report: HBO OTT Service To Be Called ‘HBO Now’ | Multichannel
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: OpenDTV Mail List <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 4 Mar 2015 23:45:32 -0500
http://www.multichannel.com/news/technology/report-hbo-ott-service-be-called-hbo-now/388486
Report: HBO OTT Service To Be Called ‘HBO Now’
HBO’s anticipated over-the-top, direct to consumer service will be called “HBO
Now,” sell for $15 per month, and launch in tandem with the April 12 season
five premiere of Game of Thrones, according to a report from the International
Business Times.
HBO has announced plans to launch the OTT service in the U.S. in 2015,
stressing that the service, which won’t require customers to tie in a
traditional pay-TV service, will be targeted to the roughly 10 million
broadband-only homes in the U.S. and won’t cannibalize the pay-TV subscription
base.
As for the purported brand for the new service, HBO Now does not yet appear in
the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office database. HBO isn’t saying much about the
report.
“We know there’s great anticipation around our standalone streaming service,”
an HBO official said in an emailed statement. “And when we have details to
share, we will do so.”
TV Predictions, meanwhile, has observed that several MVPDs, including Verizon
Communications, Time Warner Cable and Cox Communications, have recently been
offering HBO at a reduced or promotional price, reasoning that the tweaks in
pricing and packaging will help them brace for the price point that will grace
HBO's OTT offering.
Other providers have been experimenting with how they package HBO. Last year,
AT&T introduced U-verse HBO Internet Plus, a $39 per month service that ties
its 18 Mbps broadband service, an HD-ready DVR, WiFi, a basic TV lineup ,and
access to HBO GO, the premium programmer’s TV Everywhere service.
Comcast has kicked the tires on “Internet Plus,” a $40 per month package that
provided a 20-25 Mbps broadband service, bundled in its Streampix subscription
multiscreen VOD service, WiFi, and HBO.
While HBO has not yet confirmed a launch date or a price for the OTT service, a
Parks Associates survey found that 17% of U.S. broadband homes are “likely” to
subscribe to an OTT service from HBO. Of that group, 91% were currently pay-TV
subscribers, and about half of them would cancel their pay-TV service after
subscribing to the new OTT offering from HBO, Parks found.
International Business Times is also reporting that HBO and Apple are in talks
to have the Apple TV serve as a launch partner for HBO Now. In addition to
Apple TV, HBO GO, HBO's authenticated app for MVPD partners, already supports
several other platforms, including Web browsers, the Sony PS3 and PS4, iOS and
Android smartphones and tablets, the Amazon Fire TV, Kindle Fire, Google
Chromecast, Roku platform, Samsung smart TVs, and the Xbox 360 and Xbox One.
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- » [opendtv] Report: HBO OTT Service To Be Called ‘HBO Now’ | Multichannel - Craig Birkmaier