Eric Kessler, the COO of HBO, announced at All Things Digital’s Dive into Media conference in Dana Point, California on Tuesday that the company’s HBO Go service is now available via AirPlay, making it possible for users to stream the service’s videos straight from an iPad to an Apple TV. However, the service still won’t have a dedicated Apple TV app. Kessler insisted that this isn’t due to any challenges from Apple, but simply a development capacity question.
Kessler also reiterated the notion that HBO won’t offer a standalone HBO Go online subscription any time soon. “The economics today are not particularly compelling. Now that doesn’t mean that may not change,” he said.
He went on to explain that the cable provider’s key asset isn’t carriage, but promotion and packaging. Pay TV operators clock ten million transactions for HBO each year, Kessler said, but HBO isn’t paying any of their customer representatives.
Still, there may be a silver lining for cord cutters who want to watch HBO without paying for cable some time – except, it may take a long time for HBO to get there. “We can certainly do it when we want to,” Kessler said. “Today, that’s not the case.”
Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.
- Who and what to watch in the new era of the living room
- What the shift to the cloud means for the future EPG
- Connected consumer third-quarter 2012
 |
 |