“Here’s the latest entry in the what-you-want, when-you-want-it movie download race: HBO, Time Warner’s iconic superbrand pay-TV service. The new service is called HBO on Broadband, and while Comcast CEO Brian Roberts mesmerized a recent Consumer Electronics Show audience with visions of TV shows and movies capable of streaming lickety-split across his cable TV wires, the guys from Time Warner are offering what is clearly a work in progress,” Ron Grover reports for BusinessWeek.
“First, the basics: You can watch the live HBO feed online, choose from more than 350 movies, and download and store such TV shows as Sex & the City, The Sopranos, and Entourage. It will set reminders for you when things are on, allow you to preset to record movies and TV shows when they air on the cable network, and suggest new stuff that maybe you would like to watch,” Grover reports.
“HBO describes HBO on Broadband as free. But to get the service, a cable subscriber will need to have already paid not only the $12 or so a month to get the pay channel, but also the $30 or $40 a month to get a cable operator’s broadband service. That’s right. The free HBO actually costs subscribers $52 or more per month because consumers will first have to dip into their pockets to buy HBO from their cable or satellite provider, and then add broadband service from the same provider,” Grover reports.
MacDailyNews Take: Hey, $30 + $12 = $42. So, the “free” HBO on Broadband actually only costs subscribers $42 or more per month.
Grover continues, “So when Time Warner starts to roll out the new service on Jan. 21, why are they only doing it in a single system in two areas—Green Bay, Wis., and Milwaukee—when Time Warner owns 23 systems from Hawaii to Portland, Me.? No, it’s not a test, says HBO Co-President Eric Kessler, although he expects some fine-tuning. ‘We’re involved with discussions with other service providers, and we expect to have some to announce down the road,’ he says.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “HMCIV” for the heads up.]
“it will only get worse as everyone will be forced to buy a set top box just to continue receiving their TV signals”
No. Just people who receive over the air signals and don’t have a TV made in the past couple of years.
If you have cable or satellite, you won’t need a box, other than the one you currently use. I believe it is until 2012 that cable systems have to offer analog signals OR offer a converter box.
Also, you are eligible for vouchers from Uncle Sam to offset the cost.
It seems everyone is missing one fine point, it requires MS DRM to operate. That means we Mac users are left out, again.
Penelope Pickles,
That doesn’t sound kosher to me.
@LorD1776
Sorry, the Reuters article explains the need for XP with a Mac version in the works. Every company that signs up for MS DRM says the same thing ‘a Mac version is planned in the future’. Think about the BBC iPlayer and you get the idea.
Sorry, forgot link:
Reuters Article
Interesting that Time-Warner via HBO is trying this high bandwidth eating “free” service when they’ve also announced “test marketing” a capped service where customers have to pay extra for exceeding the bandwidth limit. Talk about greedy…
Penelope,
Uh, that was my sad excuse for humor.
Kosher? Pickles? Sorry about that.
MDN is free.
Let’s see, annoying ads in my face and several blocked pop-ups. How do you put a price on that? Let’s say a $2 annoyance fee.
Broadband, $30 a month.
Hey, $30 + $2 = $32. So, the “free” MDN only costs viewers $32 per month.
Isn’t stupid logic fun?