HBO Streaming Service Coming Soon to iPad
If you’re currently an HBO subscriber there is some good news for you today. HBO’s Co-president Eric Kessler, revealed today that HBO Go streaming TV and movie service will be available on the iPad.
With this announcement, HBO has claimed they will make shows and movies available online strictly via the HBO Go service. This means their online content will be available for your iPad, and many other mobile devices at no extra cost for existing network subscribers.
Today’s announcement has created a lot of tension between HBO and Netflix. It seems that a deal between both companies is very unlikely in the near future. Think of it for a second. HBO owns very successful and highly acclaimed TV shows like True Blood, The Sopranos, and many more. In addition, HBO holds cable and Internet rights to films from Universal, Fox and Warner Bros.
Just last week, Netflix announced their agreement to pay $900 million over five years for online rights to films from Paramount Pictures, Lions Gate Entertainment Group, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Both companies have been very successful. HBO has approximately over 29 million subscribers and has reported very good profit numbers. Netflix has approximately 15 million subscribers and their stock has more than doubled this year.
The recent announcements by both companies will not impact my household. I’m currently subscribed to both services, and love the content I get from both companies. Even though this is quite exciting for subscribers like myself, it could be a bit disappointing to others. Why? Many subscribers may now have to pay for more than one service in order to stream some movies and TV shows to devices like their iPad.
Looks like a big battle has just begun between HBO and Netflix. What do you think?
