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Take my money, HBO

takemymoneyhbo.com

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Re: Take my money, HBO

#111

Post by wmf »

sg214 wrote: post #44

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.

As several people have said, Netflix or Hulu would probably be happy to do the billing and management. The marketing is definitely an issue, since cable companies can efficiently market HBO to existing cable subscribers.

Re: Take my money, HBO

#112

Post by gee_totes »

ars wrote: post #81
dbbolton wrote: post #71

The message I get from posts like these: "I am entitled to watch show X right now. If the owner of show X won't sell it to me instantly, then I have the right to pirate it." Is there money to be made here? Sure. I might even say that companies who don't offer popular shows on demand are making a dumb move. But nobody has the innate right to take whatever they want right now just because they can't wait until it's ava…

> has the innate right to take whatever they want You aren't taking it. You are copying it. The only reason not to be allowed to copy it is if it damages the copyright owner. But since the product has zero economic value to the owner from you (they refuse to sell it to you), you are not causing them any damage, and therefor you can not make any argument about why it's wrong. (i.e. it makes no difference to the owner…

2 things)

1 - But since the product has zero economic value to the owner from you (they refuse to sell it to you) -- In the case of Game of Thrones, you are refusing to buy it (either via HBO subscription, iTunes, physical media, etc.)

2 - Fair use is a legal defense used when you get charged with copyright infringement. It is not an excuse you give upfront. You can only claim fair use after you have been charged.

Re: Take my money, HBO

#113

Post by jack-r-abbit »

ckrailo wrote: post #94
aidenn0 wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No it says "I think I'm entitled to your content and so I'm going to probably be a shitty customer"

So you're anti-entitlement to very easily copyable things? Why? To assure you I'm not trolling... take a look at this discussion before replying: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/114391-Valves-Gabe...

That really isn't a discussion. It is one CEO explaining their decision to make their products available online. Kessler has a different idea of how HBO is going to position themselves online. Why is Newell's opinion on his business model any more valid than Kessler's?

I never understood this thing about "easily copy-able" being a reason to strip a business of their distribution rights. Yes, the actual string of 1's and 0's is easy to copy. But physically making a 60 minute episode of Game of Thrones is not so easy. I think the work they have put into making their product has earned them the right to control the distribution of their product just as much as any other business. If you don't like the way HBO distributes Game of Thrones... you don't go pirate it... you go film it yourself (although I suspect that would not be allowed either).

Re: Take my money, HBO

#114

Post by wmf »

shmerl wrote: post #50

Did HBO ever consider asking some fixed price per simple download? No streaming, no complicated subscription services. Just payments per files. There can't be any logical reason not to offer it, if it's so widely pirated already. They can only convince some of those who pirate not to do it, if they provide the same level of simplicity and convenience. In any case, it can't make it any worse for them, than it is now.…

HBO is ~$15/month or ~$180/year if you don't cancel. A season of Game of Thrones is $30-39 on iTunes. It seems pretty obvious.

Re: Take my money, HBO

#115

Post by zavulon »

Kind of off-topic, but it's really use for HBO to bring this entire operation down if they want: the domain name contains their trademark, "HBO". In these cases it's much better to have a generic domain name (i.e. "takemymoneycable" or something like that), than to do trademark violations.

I've had to learn this the hard way, unfortunately ...

Re: Take my money, HBO

#116

Post by fjabre »

runako wrote: post #55
akira2501 wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Because this is an act of war against other carries that currently carry HBO. Those carriers can drop HBO and cause revenue to drop much faster than broadband-only HBOGO subscribers will bring in new revenue. It's trading an existing, stable, proven revenue source for one that is none of the above at scale. Edit: This is a summary of one of HBO's arguments. The dcurtis post examines a couple of other arguments. Posit…

They would not be able to drop HBO. It's too valuable to their customers

Re: Take my money, HBO

#117

Post by hospadam »

ckrailo wrote: post #95
hospadam wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're exactly right - there is a vocal set of people that want a third option. My point is, however, no business has to offer the "third option". Just because they don't offer the third option doesn't make downloading them for free OK.

Why not? To assure you I'm not trolling... read this first: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/114391-Valves-Gabe...

I've read the article - and I completely agree with Gabe. From a business point of view - you (and Gabe) are probably right. It might be absolutely, completely stupid of HBO to not offer GoT online, 24/7, for a reasonable price.

However, just because they may (or may not) be making a poor business decision, it doesn't excuse what people are doing: illegally pirating content.

Re: Take my money, HBO

#118

Post by burke »

trotsky wrote: post #107

I worked on several commercial digital music projects in the time span between early napster and entrenched itunes. One regularly repeated meme of the era was that people didn't want to pirate music, they just wanted it "as easy" or "no drm" or "ala carte" or "all you can eat". While statistically these were all guaranteed to be true for at least some users, in aggregate they were red herrings. The industry was in th…

I'm only one data point, but:

I used to pirate (all of my) music. I have bought a grand total of one CD ever. Now I happily consume most of my music through a paid subscription to Rdio.

Similarly, I pay for netflix. I (grudgingly) go to theatres occasionally. I don't own and have no desire to own a dvd player, and pirate movies occasionally when they're not conveniently available.

Similarly, I pirate Game of Thrones, but would happily pay up to $5 per episode if it were an option. I will not buy the DVDs, as I have no desire to see it again. If I could buy the DVDs at the same time as the show airs (without getting off my couch), I would happily do so.

It is quite literally all about convenience for some people.

Re: Take my money, HBO

#119

Post by duaneb »

shpoonj wrote: post #49

I wouldn't pay a single cent to HBO. I would, on the other hand, pay $40 via iTunes per season of Game of Thrones. Networks are outdated. Stop trying to change them and adapt like the rest of us.

On the contrary, I would much rather pay HBO directly rather than go through Apple as an intermediary.

Re: Take my money, HBO

#120

Post by duaneb »

juliano_q wrote: post #74

I actually discovered that I am able to pay HBO for Game of Thrones. HBO decided to air GoT here in Brazil simultaneously with USA. I called my television provider, added HBO for R$ 30,00/mo (around $15.00) and after the end of the season 2 I just called there and removed HBO again. I am planning to do the same for season 3. Is it so hard for people around the world to do the same? (real question, not being sarcastic…

I don't even own a TV, let alone a TV subscription. At the bare minimum, I'd be looking at $65 a month for a single TV show.
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