AfterDawn: Tech news

HBO On Broadband debuts in Wisconsin

Written by Rich Fiscus @ 21 Jan 2008 12:56 User comments (4)

HBO On Broadband debuts in Wisconsin In a move over a year in the making, HBO has announced that it will begin trials of its online video service, dubbed HBO On Broadband. The service will be tested in two different Wisconsin markets - Green Bay and Milwaukee - and be available only to those who subscribe to both HBO and broadband internet from the same cable television provider.
The offering has been planned since at least 2006, but has been slow getting out of the gate because of the HBO's concerns about harming their relationship with cable providers, who would no doubt not be happy to have HBO essentially bypassing them to service customers. For now there will be no additional cost, beyond what consumers are already paying for HBO, to access the content.

"It encourages customers to take our bundle and keep it," says Peter Stern, executive VP at Time Warner Cable, which says 365,000 Wisconsin customers will have access to the new service.



Much like other online Video On Demand services from television networks and stations, HBO On Broadband will allow customers to download current content to their computer and keep it for a limited amount of time for playback. Variety is reporting the amount of time a show may be kept as a few weeks.

Apparently HBO isn't in any great hurry to rush into online VOD, which should be good for customers. Rather, they've said they'll roll it out to a few markets at a time in a way that HBO co-prexy Eric Kessler, who oversees the new platform, says should be "similar to the one executed on the successful introduction of HBO On Demand." He added, "This will create value for our distribution partners, our subscribers and the HBO brand,"

Of course, if you subscribe to HBO through a satellite service or don't get your broadband internet through your local cable provider it doesn't really add anything for you, which is no doubt what the cable companies like about it.

Previous Next  

4 user comments

121.1.2008 13:29
fgamer
Inactive

I suppose i'll have to check it out to see what it's worth.

221.1.2008 17:13

Gotta check out HBO On Broadband (H-BOOB!!!) Wow, I don't think I could've been more immature!!!

322.1.2008 04:07

That was kind of funny! I wonder when skin-a-max is going to make it's debut?

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 22 Jan 2008 @ 4:08

417.2.2008 17:39

Here we go again another movie studio like time warner HBO wants to spread its wing and enter the broadband internet market. On top of that more of the same online High Definition video.

Comments have been disabled for this article.

Latest news

Roomba Combo j7+ review - Clever trick allows robot vacuum finally to tackle home with rugs and carpets Roomba Combo j7+ review - Clever trick allows robot vacuum finally to tackle home with rugs and carpets (06 Jun 2023 9:19)
Roomba Combo j7+ is the very first Roomba model to combine robot vacuum with mopping features. And Roomba Combo j7+ does all that with a very clever trick, which tackles the problem with mopping and carpets. But is it any good? We found out.
Neato, the robot vacuum company, ends its operations Neato, the robot vacuum company, ends its operations (02 May 2023 3:38)
Neato Robotics has ceased its operations. American robot vacuum pioneer founded in 2005 has finally called it quits and company will cease its operations and sales. Only a skeleton crew will remain who will keep the servers running until 2028.
5 user comments
How to Send Messages to Yourself on WhatsApp How to Send Messages to Yourself on WhatsApp (20 Mar 2023 1:25)
The world's most popular messaging platform, Meta-owned WhatsApp has enabled sending messages to yourself. While at first, this might seem like an odd feature, it can be very useful in a lot of situations. ....
18 user comments
How to Enable Bluetooth on Stadia Controller How to Enable Bluetooth on Stadia Controller (11 Feb 2023 1:04)
Google shut down its streaming game service Stadia late last month and this means that some people have Stadia controllers lying around that seem to be of no use. That is fortunately not the ....
2 user comments
Guide: How to Kick Unwanted Guests from Your Netflix Account Guide: How to Kick Unwanted Guests from Your Netflix Account (26 Jan 2023 2:14)
Sharing a Netflix account with a person in a different location is possible and indeed very common, although the company doesn't necessarily enjoy this behavior from their customers. However, ....

News archive