HBO Now
 |
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| Type | OTT streaming service |
|---|---|
| Founded | October 15, 2014 |
| Headquarters | New York City, New York, United States |
| Area served | United States |
| Key people | Richard Plepler (CEO, Home Box Office Inc.) |
| Owner | Home Box Office Inc. (Time Warner) |
| Website | hbonow |
| Type of site | Video on demand |
| Registration | Monthly subscription through authorized distributor required to access content |
| Available in | English |
| Launched | April 7, 2015[1] |
HBO Now is an over-the-top subscription video on demand service operated by American premium cable and satellite television network HBO. Officially unveiled on March 9 and launched on April 7, 2015[1] the service allows subscribers on-demand access to HBO's library of original programs, films and other content on personal computers, smartphones, tablet devices and digital media players.[2] Unlike HBO Go, HBO's online video on demand service for existing subscribers of the linear television channel, HBO Now is available as a standalone service and does not require a television subscription to use, targeting cord cutters who use competing services such as Netflix and Hulu.
Development
On October 15, 2014, following a trial of a similar service in Nordic Europe, HBO announced plans to launch an online, subscription video on demand service in the United States in 2015. This new service would be geared towards cord cutters – consumers who primarily use online video services to view television programs rather than subscribe to cable or satellite television – and would not have to be purchased as part of a television subscription, therefore also making it a competitor to services such as Netflix. This contrasts with HBO's existing online video on demand service, HBO Go, which is only accessible to those who have subscribed to HBO through a television provider.[3][4]
On December 9, 2014, it was reported that HBO had outsourced development of the service's infrastructure to Major League Baseball Advanced Media (MLBAM), who also developed the infrastructures used by WatchESPN and WWE Network. The network was previously working on a new platform codenamed "Maui"; however HBO, especially after major outages of HBO Go that occurred during several recent season premieres of high-profile HBO series, felt that outsourcing the service to a third-party would bring lower risk to the project. Otto Berkes stepped down as the company's Chief Technical Officer following this move.[5]
The service was officially unveiled as HBO Now during an Apple press event on March 9, 2015.[6] It was also announced that Apple would be the service's exclusive launch partner, with the HBO Now app being exclusive to Apple TV and iOS devices for a three-month period following the service's launch.[7][2][8] HBO Now content can also be accessed on its website. HBO Now officially went live on April 7, 2015, to coincide with the April 12 premiere of the fifth season of Game of Thrones.[1]
Following the end of the exclusivity period, HBO Now for Android and Amazon Kindle Fire was released on July 16, 2015.[9] HBO Now software for Xbox 360 and Xbox One were released on April 21, 2016.[10]
Content
HBO Now offers on-demand access to HBO's entire library of original series, as well as original films and documentaries, along with acquired films from its library through the cable channel's content partners (such as 20th Century Fox, Universal Pictures and HBO sister company Warner Bros. Pictures). Time Warner stated that at least 2,000 titles would be available upon the service's launch.[8]
Like with HBO Go, HBO Now strictly serves as a video on demand service and does not include access to near-real-time streams of HBO's linear channels – unlike similar (in particular, TV Everywhere) streaming services offered by other television networks.[8][11] HBO Now also does not include programming streams or content from sister premium service Cinemax, and Time Warner has indicated that it does not plan to launch a companion standalone service for that network in the near term.[12]
Availability
HBO Now is only available to customers in the United States and certain U.S. territories; due to regional rights restrictions (such as in Canada, where Bell Media owns exclusive rights to HBO's back-catalog for its CraveTV service, and the HBO Canada channel owns exclusive rights to current HBO programs and offers its own HBO Go app; CraveTV is available over-the-top but HBO Canada is not) HBO cannot offer the service outside of the country, and its terms of use explicitly forbid the service from being used outside the United States. Users from outside the U.S. that are detected to have used services such as virtual private networks (VPN) to evade the geo-blocking to use HBO Now are subject to have their services terminated with no refund.[13][14]
On April 1, 2015, as part of an agreement with Time Warner that renewed its carriage contract for the Turner Broadcasting System networks and gave its over-the-top television service Sling TV distribution rights to the linear HBO channel, Dish Network secured an option to become a distribution partner for HBO Now following the exclusivity period with Apple.[15][16]
Reception
Sales
Analysts predicted HBO Now had over one million paying subscribers on iOS platforms in July 2015.[17] In February 2016 Time Warner disclosed that HBO Now had over 800,000 paying subscribers. [18]
References
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- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. (subscription required)
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