It appears HBO’s new corporate masters are unafraid to throw punches. In a move that would have made Tywin Lannister smile — if Tywin ever smiled, that is — AT&T CEO Randal Stephenson fired the following shot across his competitor’s bow, according to CNBC.
"HBO is a very, very unique asset. I think of Netflix kind of as the Walmart of [subscription video on-demand services]. HBO is kind of the Tiffany."
Ouch. AT&T purchased Time Warner and its assets in June, and quickly outlined new marching orders for the premium content network. And while we’re sure Stephenson would love for HBO to enjoy Walmart level profits ($486 billion in revenue last year), HBO President of Original Programming Casey Bloys told Variety it won’t come through a Netflix level of mass produced content.
"Our brand stands for excellence in programming. There is an implicit promise that when a subscriber turns on HBO, of quality. If that changes, we have a problem. So I don’t want to get into the volume business where we’ve lost that. I do believe that we can do more and keep that brand as our north star and not lose what it stands for."
Despite HBO’s claim of being the higher quality product, whether or not HBO is actually the Tiffany’s of online streaming is less clear. Netlfix would likely point out that its network received 112 Emmy nominations this year, 4 more than HBO’s 108. HBO had enjoyed being the most Emmy nominated network for 17 years in a row.
Of course, HBO could point it that its shows typically receive more nominations per each one. For instance, Game of Thrones received 22 nominations, while Netflix’s most nominated show was The Crown, with 13. This is all starting to sound like a typical lunch with the Lannisters.
Beyond Emmy nods, a study by The Streaming Observer would seem to lend credence to HBO’s higher quality claim. Streaming Observer used “data from loyal critic sites Metacritic and Rotten Tomatoes.
"Metacritic breaks down its ratings for shows by season, so we averaged all seasons for an overall score. We then took the average scores for all shows by a particular channel or service to get its overall score."
Which sounds more complicated than it is. Anyway, using that information, HBO tops every streaming service and network with an average critic score of 75, while Netflix comes in seven spots lower with an average of 70. Must be that first season of Iron First weighing it down.
Ultimately, HBO might enjoy the slight edge, but it also has the the pedigree. Netflix is still the new kid on the block, and shows like The Crown and the excellent western mini-series Godless prove they are catching on. Either way though, the consumer wins.
To stay up to date on everything Game of Thrones, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.
Watch Game of Thrones or Succession for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels