Yesterday, HBO kept the cord-cutting revolution going with two big developments: HBO Now, the network’s online-only subscription service, is finally available to stream on Roku devices, and its HBO Go service will be available to broadband-only customers in Latin America, Brazil, and the Caribbean.
When HBO Now launched back in April (right before the premiere of Game of Thrones Season 5, conveniently enough), the $15/month subscription service was only accessible through Apple devices. Later, Google’s Chromecast and Amazon’s Fire TV and Fire TV Stick were added. Roku users, who represented a large portion of the cord-cutting audience, were left out, but no longer. With HBO Now available on every major streaming device, the temptation to just leave broadcast TV by the wayside becomes that much stronger. Steve Shannon, general manager of Content and Services at Roku, put it this way:
"The combination of the Roku platform and HBO NOW signifies a new era of streaming for our customers because they now have instant access to HBO and its incredible selection of entertainment, even without a traditional pay TV subscription."
Meanwhile, HBO Latin America revealed plans to launch HBO Go as an online service in Latin America and the Caribbean. Currently, customers in those regions can only access HBO Go if they buy an HBO/MAX subscription package through pay TV operators. The new plan would make it available to broadband-only users. Emilio Rubio, CEO of HBO Latin America, weighed in:
"We have seen changes in content consumption habits and are launching this new HBO GO platform as an à la carte service in response to those trends. We are creating options and adding more flexibility to our model and for our distributors, giving consumers the choice to enjoy the Premium content of HBO/MAX in the manner they want."
In short, there are more options than ever to watch Game of Thrones. The days when you had to borrow your friend’s HBO Go password to watch anything will become a thing of the past, and the whole world can participate in simultaneous marathon party before Season 6 starts.
H/T BusinessWire, TimeWarner