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The bundle—shorthand for the tiered approach that cable companies use to gouge their customers price their service—is the only thing that’s keeping the television industry as we currently know it alive. Today, at approximately 11 a.m. Eastern Standard time, the bundle was given a terminal diagnosis. Rest in peace, we guess?
In a long rumored yet still stunning development, HBO CEO Richard Plepler today announced that HBO would launch a stand-alone, streaming version of its incredibly popular HBO Go service sometime in 2015. Cordcutters, rejoice!
“It is time to remove all barriers to those who want HBO,” Pepler told investors today. “So, in 2015, we will launch a standalone, over-the-top, HBO service in the United States. This is the most exciting inflection point, both domestically and internationally, in the modern history of HBO.”
Damn right it is!
Now, this announcement in no way means that the Kabletowns of the world are going to go out of business tomorrow. Hardly! What it does mean, however, is that the cable company’s current programming packaging strategy—ie the bundle, ie “Pay me $150+ a month for a ton of channels you don’t watch!”—has been dealt a serious body blow, one that will ultimately prove to be fatal (prediction: ESPN will be the service that will ultimately deal the fatal blow to the bundle). When this HBO Go launches as a stand-alone service in 2015, Game Of Thrones fans will no longer be forced to pay outrageous monthly cable costs to watch Khaleesi slowly amble her way to King’s Landing. Instead, they’ll be able to directly pay HBO as as-yet-undetermined amount of money each month and stream the shows on whatever device they choose (laptop, tablet, phone, Roku, what-have-you).
This is terrific news for people who are fed up with the ever-increasing cost of cable. Millions of “cordcutters” have already discovered that some combination of Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime are sufficient for them to get their content fix, and that they no longer have to spend $150 or more a month in order to see their favorite shows. This is also a smart move by HBO to cut down on the not-unsubstantial amount of piracy that affects their programming; by giving customers access to their amazing content at a low price point, people will be less inclined to steal their shows. (This is a lesson that the music industry has learned this with its primary streaming service Spotify, and it seems that the TV industry is just now starting to catch up.)
Sports fans—and there a TON of them—are out of luck, though. If you want to watch live sports on your teevee, you’re still gonna have to pony up that monthly ransom fee to Kabletown. Your move, ESPN!
HBO to launch Netflix-like streaming service next year [NYP]
HBO to Launch Standalone Streaming Service [WSJ]
