Much like Daario giving this flower to Daenarys, HBO is giving you a streaming service.
Credit: Macall B. Polay
Finally acknowledging that everyone is just using their parents’ HBO Go account information, the cable company has announced that it will have a new standalone streaming service in 2015. In a press release, HBO CEO Richar Plepler was quoted as saying “It is time to remove all barriers to those who want HBO. So, in 2015, we will launch a stand-alone, over-the-top HBO service in the United States.” He pointed to the high number of people with internet connections but no cable service (estimated to be 10 million people) as part of the reason for the shift.
Will this stop “Game of Thrones” from being the most pirated show on the internet? Unclear, but it’s a little surprising that HBO waited this long to compete more directly with Netflix.
Additional details are scarce for the moment, so questions about what, exactly will be available on the streaming service isn’t known. Will new episodes be available on the service as they’re airing on HBO? Will the full movie catalog be on there? Can I add an app to my Roku? We’ll post more if we learn it, but for now, it looks like HBO’s streaming service is still in the planning stages, so how this might effect people who currently pay for an HBO subscription isn’t clear.
