51–60 of 316 posts
HBO as an add-on to cable packages costs ~$20. If HBO were to offer it as a standalone service, they would have to handle billing, subscription management, increased marketing budget to make up for marketing that cable/sat currently offers for them, etc. So unless a critical mass of people are willing to pay AT LEAST $30 per month, this is a lost cause.
i hate twitter.
my voice shall go unnoticed.
I'd rather see people put their money where their mouth is, in a non-hypothetical way. For example, pick some otherwise random date a few weeks after the DVD set will be released and organize a concerted buying effort amongst "pirates" on that specific date.
The packaging of the videos is SHIT... there are ads, I have to sit through FBI warnings, I have to sift through bad menus to get to the content I want, and I have to deal with trying to find features when everything I select says "please insert disc X"
I paid $70 CND and with the exception of the actual quality of the picture (blu-ray is fantastic), the whole experience is VASTLY inferior to the piracy route.
That said, I'll still be purchasing the Season 2 Blu-Ray when it comes out, because I very much want to support the production of this series.
This was a good write-up of an interview with the HBO co-CEO: http://dcurt.is/hbo-forbes-journalism Worth reading before spouting the typical "I don't understand why HBO doesn't want my $5 a month."
I see his argument.. but why not just partner with ISPs? If HBO doesn't want my $8 directly, then why not let AT&T (or whoever) charge me an extra $8/mo along with my DSL (or whatever) bill and get HBOGO? It would be nearly identical to their current model, but with different types of subscriber organizations distributing their content for them.
Edit: This is a summary of one of HBO's arguments. The dcurtis post examines a couple of other arguments. Positioning is an interesting one: How does HBO convince viewers that $5/mo is reasonable for just a few shows when Netflix is $8/mo for far more content? There are some really tough issues here.
The "recent tweets" widget shows people tweeting numbers like $10. Isn't HBO as an add-on to an existing cable subscription generally significantly more than that?
Not significantly more, at the end of the day I'd have to guess HBO likely sees less than $10/sub.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Would you pay $225 a year? That's how much it costs a Briton. ("The annual cost of a colour TV licence is £145.50")
It's hilarious that they apparently need to specify "colour" ;).
I pay $30/month to watch Starcraft 2 tournaments on GomTV.net. I pay $0/month to watch Game of Thrones, Veep, Girls, and True Blood. I will continue to pay $0 until there is an option that does not involve enriching evil cable executives. Your move, HBO.
I pay $30/month to watch Starcraft 2 tournaments on GomTV.net. I pay $0/month to watch Game of Thrones, Veep, Girls, and True Blood. I will continue to pay $0 until there is an option that does not involve enriching evil cable executives. Your move, HBO.
If you don't agree with their distribution methods then DON'T CONSUME THAT CONTENT.