HBO without cable = $15/month...worth it?

absolutely

No.

Why would I pay $15 per month when I pay only $8 for Netflix, wherefrom I get 50 times the entertainment?

I see what you are saying but

Hbo content>Netflix content in terms of quality.

Save your breath. It's not worth trying to reason or understand Rex.

Yes but only for the months with the big shows. Once the shows are over, then cancel.

I could probably burn through everything I want to watch in their back catalog in a few months.

So I wouldn't keep HBO long term. I would just pick it up for Game of Thrones, cancel when the season is over.

I roll with Netflix and Prime Permanently but HBO would only hit the rotation in selective months. Same would happen for ESPN if they went pay per view. I would only need ESPN during college FB months.

This is not $15 a month for HBO GO, they are calling it something else and it will not have all the content that HBO GO has, we will have to wait and see what's on it.

quote:

---

Why would I pay $15 per month when I pay only $8 for Netflix, wherefrom I get 50 times the entertainment?

---

because of course the law limits you to only one subscription, so you must choose carefully.

quote:

---

And in theory, is this a bad thing for everyone to do? Only pay for what you really watch and when you watch it?

---

Longer term it might be bad.

Short term, if cable splinters into pick and choose options, there are going to be a ton of channels that dissolve almost overnight.

That means less content. You might hate The Chick Channel in Flannel Vision, but someone else might love it and without package deals it wouldn't exist.

Also, HBO will eventually realize the stand alone channel isn't making them as much money long term so they either limit content and rotate it to keep people using the service or they raise the price.

I still want the option to pick and choose, but I think it will be a bumpy bloody road ahead for LOTS of content providers.

And in the end, it won't save us as much money as we think.

quote:

---

Longer term it might be bad.

Short term, if cable splinters into pick and choose options, there are going to be a ton of channels that dissolve almost overnight.

That means less content. You might hate The Chick Channel in Flannel Vision, but someone else might love it and without package deals it wouldn't exist.

Also, HBO will eventually realize the stand alone channel isn't making them as much money long term so they either limit content and rotate it to keep people using the service or they raise the price.

I still want the option to pick and choose, but I think it will be a bumpy bloody road ahead for LOTS of content providers.

---

Agreed, but I think some of the losses won't be bad, and some could be. But that we'll have to reach an equilibrium and costs stabilize. I don't think HBO can charge more than $15 a month especially if their rotated content is small (have all their produced shows, plus a selection of film/docs/etc) I mean, you could make it through their episodic content in under 6 months (at least the good bits of it).

I think there's a pretty good argument about niche vs. wide appeal. The value of cable has been a plethora of niche content and a conversely uneven amount of good content on general audience providers. I think we'll see less channels with more packed content....and much of the niche going to streaming only and probably seeing a lowered bar in production costs.