Game of Thrones may retain its crown of being the most pirated television show, based on reports. Despite the number of downloads of the season premiere entering the millions within 24 hours of its first broadcast, the programming president of HBO appears to be taking the dubious accolade as a compliment.
HBO may be relenting on its position towards allowing HBO outside of cable TV subscription packages, Reuters reports. CEO Richard Plepler says that the company is considering allowing access to HBO GO, its digital streaming option, via bundles with broadband Internet subscriptions. That would likely add about $10 to $15 to a person's Internet bill. "We would have to make the math work," says Plepler.
HBO has signed a deal with Universal Studios that extends its exclusive rights to Universal Pictures' and Focus Features' films for another ten years. The extension prevents competing video-on-demand services such as Netflix from gaining access to content, keeping it on HBO's TV, mobile, and online services until the year 2022.
HBO and Fox have renewed a rights agreement originally set to expire in 2015, AllThingsD reports. Under the new deal, Fox movies will continue appearing on HBO until 2022. More importantly, however, Fox and HBO officials say that the agreement includes a "softening" of something known as the electronic sell-through window. Previously HBO maintained a strict policy that while it was running a movie for the first time, no one else could sell or rent a title electronically.
Game of Thrones is reportedly the most pirated series of the current TV season, with downloads nearly equaling television viewer estimates in the US, according to figures gathered by TorrentFreak. Each episode attracts an estimated 4.2 million viewers on HBO, barely surpassing 3.9 million pirated downloads. A call for HBO to introduce a standalone subscription for online access to content was dismissed by the cable television network.
HBO has rolled out Android versions of its HBO Go and MAX Go apps, allowing the users of Android-powered devices to stream content from the two premium channels on the go, so long as they already have a cable subscription to the premium channels. The Apps are available for free in Google's Play app store.
As promised, Comcast on Monday switched on its HBO Go support for the Xbox 360 on Monday. Viewers who have a Comcast cable subscription and the console can sign in and watch nearly all of HBO's catalog on-demand. Unlike the Xfinity TV app, though, viewing counts towards the 250GB data transfer cap.
Apple edged closer to having a complete iTunes in the Cloud on Saturday with previous holdout Universal adding support. Movies from the studio can now be re-downloaded on any device with an Apple ID, or streamed directly to an Apple TV. The expansion adds hundreds or more videos to those from existing supporters like Sony Pictures.
Microsoft took its promised Comcast Xfinity TV and HBO Go support live on the Xbox 360 Tuesday with the extra addition of MLB.tv. Akin to the ESPN app, it gives users the option of watching live and on-demand events, albeit live only for out-of-market games. Kinect owners have the extra advantage of motion and voice commands that can sometimes speed up the action.
The long-expected Xbox 360 apps for Comcast's Xfinity TV and HBO Go should go live on Tuesday. Tips sent to GigaOm were short on details, but it's believed the HBO app was going live to make sure it was ready for the Game of Thrones second season premiere on April 1, as hinted by studio co-president Eric Kessler. Comcast's timing wasn't explained, but might be following the same reasoning.
Comcast has slipped out through a support page that it's currently beta testing its Xfinity TV app for the Xbox 360. The service as it stands will give Comcast subscribers who sign in access to a large but incomplete pick of Comcast's usual access. It should include the four core broadcasters and build in major premium providers like HBO, The Movie Channel, and Comcast's own Streampix, but it won't have many mid-tier TV networks.
HBO is relaxing terms on streaming content to services like iCloud, according to a company spokesman. To attract viewers, the cable network regularly buys exclusive rights to movies; these windows usually start six months after a title's disc release, and persist for roughly a year. HBO's terms frequently prevent movies from being sold online or through video-on-demand services during a window.
A studio veteran divulged Wednesday that the iTunes in the Cloud access coming hand-in-hand with the new Apple TV and iTunes 10.6 doesn't include Fox and Universal. Either was tangled in HBO deals that gave the premium cable network brief exclusives that conflicted with the re-download rights, AllThingsD heard. HBO confirmed the issue but expected to find "common ground" that would clear full access.
Netflix's CEO, Reed Hastings, believes that in the future, cable television and his company could be partners rather than competitors. Hastings thinks that the cable service providers could fold the streaming movie and DVD rental company's service into their programming as a counterbalance to HBO. Hastings made his comments at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference in San Francisco on Tuesday.
HBO confimed Thursday that it had stopped directly supplying Netflix with discounted discs. The change won't affect Netflix's ability to get discs, but it will force Netflix to get discs from other sources, CNET was told. It isn't expected to hurt availability or prices in the near term, although Netflix has never had HBO streaming rights.
Cablevision on Monday joined Time Warner Cable's move in adding support for HBO Go and MAX Go streaming. Those on iPads, iPhones, and some Android devices can watch every current and past episode from the "best" shows on either network, including some big-name movies. Viewers need to authenticate to an Optimum account with HBO access to watch the streams, which also include the web.
In sync with the fall Xbox 360 Dashboard update, Microsoft has provided a listing of TV providers that will be ready to go this week. Along with existing access to ESPN, Hulu, and Netflix, the December 6 update will also bring EPIX authenticated video in the US, Lovefilm in the UK, MediaSet's Premium Play in Italy, Sky Go in Austria and Germany, Telefonica Espaņa's Movistar Imagenio, and MSNBC's Today in the US.
Roku hoped to lower the price floor for networked media hubs Tuesday with the Roku LT. By shedding the Ethernet, SD card slot, and Bluetooth used for the Roku 2's gaming on many models, the box drops to just $50, or half the price of an Apple TV. It can still output 720p video streamed over Wi-Fi and has all the channels of regular Roku players, such as Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant Video, and Pandora radio.
The long in the making UltraViolet platform will get its formal launch this week. Starting with the October 11 Blu-ray release of Horrible Bosses and the October 14 release of The Green Lantern, viewers who prove ownership of a UV-aware title will have access to it across computers, mobile apps on Android, BlackBerry, and iOS, and even across services. The rights include five major movie studios and, for an extra fee, can sometimes involve getting a physical copy for something they only own digitally.
The latest update in Microsoft's bid to bring TV content to Xbox 360 Live has the new content arriving on its game console subscription service as early as next week. Microsoft is engaged in talks on the matter with many content providers and cable companies, with Comcast and Verizon chief among them. A source who couldn't speak publicly revealed these details.
Time Warner Cable is reportedly preparing to offer HBO's Go apps to its cable TV subscribers. Although the cable provider has yet to publicly confirm the move, which would enable users to access HBO content from mobile devices, unnamed sources have told Bloomberg both companies may be ready to announce an agreement sometime in the next few weeks.
DreamWorks late Sunday revealed that it had struck a deal with Netflix to provide its animated movies. The deal, unofficially estimated by a consensus of NY Times analysts to be worth $30 million, will bring movies like Monsters vs. Aliens or the Shrek series to the streaming service. It's not evident how long the deal will last other than multiple years, starting in 2013.
Disney is following in the footsteps of the Fox book by requiring online TV show viewers to be pay TV subscribers and log in with a cable ID. According to a Wednesday GigaOM report, the company is working on deals with content distributors to allow this. Thus far, cable networks like CNN and HBO are already requiring such logins.
Boxee swung out a pair of major additions to its mix, including its first real tablet app. Boxee for iPad (free, App Store) lets users stream video both from some content channels as well as from computers on the local network. The app isn't locked into supporting the iPad's native formats and transcodes video from the computer on the spot.
Talk of iTunes Replay bringing cloud movie streaming might have come too soon. Insiders claimed Monday that Apple didn't have deals with at least four of six major movie studios. Any deal would be months off at best, CNET was told.
Time Warner head Jeff Bewkes said during a results call Wednesday that HBO Go was expanding beyond mobile apps. He expected it to arrive on Internet-capable TVs as well as game consoles in the near future. No signs were given of exactly when or on what platforms.
Fox on Tuesday night set out to shelter traditional TV with a long hinted-at plan to delay TV shows on Hulu for non-subscribers. Free viewers will face an eight-day delay for access to Fox TV shows unless they either pay for Hulu Plus or can prove they subscribe to a conventional TV service. Only satellite provider Dish Network is so far cleared to give users same-day access in the strategy, which starts up August 15.
New tips Sunday ruled out Netflix as one of the candidates to buy Hulu. The movie streaming service hasn't been actively involved, sources for the WSJ said. Hulu also reportedly hasn't been actively interested, in part since it would create overlap and reduce the number of suppliers, not increase them.
Apple is still trying to negotiate for movies and TV shows on iCloud, just a week away from the Internet service's formal announcement, two sources close to the talks are quoted as saying. Even though discussions with Hollywood studios have been in progress for more than a year, Apple has allegedly intensified its efforts in recent weeks. Several stumbling blocks are getting in the way of allowing cloud hosting of movies, the sources note.
The teased HBO Go app that will allow for streaming cable TV content to portable devices has now gone live, and ahead of its initially promised May 2 launch date. The respective apps are now available for iOS devices (free, App Store) and Android (Android Market). Users need to be subscribers to cable or satellite service with an HBO Go deal, however.
Cable channel HBO has officially launched HBO GO, its long-promised iOS app. The title provides remote access to HBO for existing subscribers, and so far has over 1,400 videos including movies, recurring series and sports programming. This includes some of the most popular series, such as Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire and The Wire.
A new YouTube video (below) has teased a new app for portable devices that will bring HBO programming to subscribers for free. Called HBO Go, the app is due to go live May 2 and shares its name with the streaming service that went live in mid-February. HBO promises access to the latest TV shows and movies.
A rumor from an atypical source may have signaled a change to original, major content. The movie rental service reportedly beat out AMC and HBO to get rights for two seasons, or 26 episodes, of the David Fincher-directed and Kevin Spacey-led series House of Cards. The details described to Deadline Hollywood put the value at over $100 million.
HBO provided mixed news for the fate of its video services in an interview on Tuesday. HBO co-president Eric Kessler told Bloomberg that an adaptation of HBO Go for the iPad and other handhelds should be ready within six months. He didn't explain if there was a cost, but HBO Go has usually been limited to being a free bonus for those who already subscribe to a TV package with HBO.
Sony scored a minor coup today in adding HBO TV shows to the PlayStation Network. Both the PS3 and PSP will initially have access to some complete earlier seasons of ongoing shows, including Big Love, Eastbound & Down, Entourage and True Blood. Some since-ended series will also have some of their collections, varying from Flight of the Conchords to Rome and The Wire.
Premium cable channel HBO on Wednesday took its streaming video service HBO Go out of beta. The feature is meant as a complement to a TV subscription and gives those with an existing TV subscription access to about 600 hours of the station's shows through a web browser. The service is much larger than the previous HBO On Demand.
Comcast on Thursday said it will be the first to offer downloads of HBO programs and movies in high definition via its online On Demand service. To access the library, users need to be both Comcast On Demand customers and HBO subscribers. They will then have unlimited access to the HD content, including TV shows such as Entourage, The Sopranos and The Wire, among others. Movies in HD will also be available, including The Dark Knight, American Gangster and more.
After repeated leaks, AT&T today finally but quietly launched the HTC Fuze. The carrier's adaptation of the Touch Pro brings a customized version of HTC's TouchFLO interface with an AT&T icon as well as support for several of AT&T's services over its tri-band HSPA Internet access, including HBO Mobile video as well as Napster Mobile and XM Radio for music purchases and Internet radio streams.
Beating yesterday's predictions by Portfolio, HBO has already launched its programming (iTunes link) on the US iTunes Store. Six TV shows are presently available, including The Wire, The Sopranos, Rome, Deadwood, Flight of the Conchords and Sex and the City. Listings for the shows further confirm that while most episodes are priced at the standard iTunes rate of $1.99, those for Rome, Deadwood and The Sopranos are $2.99 each, marking the first time Apple has allowed variable pricing for TV shows in the US.
Apple is on the verge of selling movies and TV shows from HBO, according to Portfolio. The publication cites HBO employees "involved in executing the agreement," who say that sales will be announced and launched at the same time, probably within one to two weeks. HBO is famous for a number of high-profile TV series, such as Deadwood, Flight of the Conchords and The Sopranos, as well as a number of first-run original films.
HBO on Monday said it would take tentative steps into online video with HBO on Broadband, a new service designed to help timeshift the company's TV programming. The feature will only be available for Time Warner Cable customers subscribed to the premium channel but will allow them to watch away from a TV without resorting to illegal copies or waiting for DVD releases. Users will both be able to download and watch roughly 400 hours' worth of HBO's monthly content for up to four weeks after the download takes place. In a unique approach, however, the service will stream shows live for those who want to catch a series as it appears.
