HBO to launch standalone streaming service in 2015

[NightWatcher]

http://online.wsj.com/articles/hbo-to-launch-standalone-streaming-service-1413385733

Speaking at Time Warner Inc. TWX +1.32% ’s investor day meeting on Wednesday, Richard Plepler, the chief executive of HBO, announced that the pay-TV channel would launch a standalone, online streaming version of its service next year. He said the service is aimed at the 10 million people in the U.S. who subscribe to broadband, but don’t watch television.

“That is a large and growing opportunity that should no longer be left untapped,” he said. “It is time to remove all barriers to those who want HBO. So, in 2015, we will launch a standalone, over-the-top, HBO service in the United States.”

As soon as a few others follow their lead, cable and satellite will start to wither and die. We have Directv and pay an obscene (to me) amount for basic service (no movie channels). We get hundreds of channels and 99% are BS shopping or garbage that no one would ever watch. I will happily ditch the dish when I can get Disney for my daughter, CBS for my wife, and a few sports for myself (sue me, I like college football and Marlins baseball).

If I could a la carte a few streaming channels on my Apple TV (like Netflix or Hulu) I would, and I think that the providers are starting to realize that.

Maybe HBO's move will start something major.

[Drale]

1. It all really depends on how much they are going to charge

that will determine whether this is successful or not.