HBO letting people see the Game of Thrones Season 6 premiere for free

HBO has a big weekend coming up. On Saturday, it’ll air Jurassic World for the first time on pay TV, broadcast a world championship boxing match, and premiere Lemonade, which is…some kind of thing from Beyoncé. On Sunday, it’ll air the premieres of three shows: Veep, Silicon Valley, and most importantly for us, Game of Thrones.

To suck in potential subscribers, the network announced yesterday that it will make all this programming available for free (contact your television provider to see if this promotion is available), eliminating the need for people to beg, borrow, and steal HBO Go passwords so they can watch the Game of Thrones Season 6 premiere, entitled “The Red Woman.” Thanks to HBO’s magnanimity, everyone can enjoy it stress-free!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RNPNvqof-0

The network is surely hoping that, having had a taste of what it can offer, people will come back and subscribe to its full suite of services. This may also be a clever way to avoid pirating. Last year, Game of Thrones was the most pirated show on TV, and before Season 5, the first four episodes leaked onto the internet. The production has tightened security this year—it didn’t send episode screeners to the media, for example, and nixed a bunch of pre-season premiere screenings save for the main one in Los Angeles last week. By letting people watch The Red Woman for free, it may be hoping to squash the temptation to watch the episode illegally.

Or maybe it’s just being nice. In any case, the premiere is only three days away!