Manhattanites may be the last in the US to stream HBO offerings like “Game of Thrones” on their mobile devices as Time Warner Cable can’t seem to set an app deal with HBO Go. (Helen Sloan)
HBO Go… away?
Despite promising that a deal is at hand, Time Warner Cable is still haggling with HBO over whether to offer the HBO Go service for Web and mobile viewing to its cable customers.
Sources familiar with the talks said Time Warner Cable, the second-largest cable operator, is worried that streaming demand will upend its current pay-TV business model and is looking to protect itself from every possible eventuality.
The cable company is also said to be irked that HBO customers don’t have to go through the cable company’s branded application to access the HBO Go service.
A spokeswoman for the cable company declined comment, as did reps for HBO.
Time Warner Cable and Cablevision are the only big pay-TV providers in the nation that don’t already give their HBO subscribers access to HBO Go. HBO is part of Time Warner, which used to own Time Warner Cable before spinning it off.
Time Warner Cable and its former corporate sibling have come close to a deal several times since the HBO Go application launched in May but have yet to hammer out terms. Meanwhile, sources said Cablevision will likely wrap an agreement by the end of the year.
HBO wants to offer all its 28 million subscribers free mobile access to movies and original shows as part of a corporate strategy known as “TV Everywhere,” which is aimed at keeping users paying for cable and satellite packages by allowing them to watch on the Web and elsewhere at no extra charge.
The HBO Go app has been downloaded 5 million times and has logged 98 million streams. HBO subscribers can access HBO Go through a host of devices, such iPhones, iPads, Roku boxes and Xboxes.