HBO on Wednesday announced a partnership with Verizon to deliver streaming content to the telecom’s FiOS TV customers. The deal introduces Verizon customers to HBO’s online destination for video programming, HBOGO.com, which offers HBO programming.
Here’s the catch: It’s not available to all FiOS TV customers. Only those who also subscribe to HBO will receive the promised free, unlimited online access to HBO programming on demand from any U.S. location with a broadband connection. Would-be viewers also have to be subscribers to both FiOS TV and FiOS Internet.
Both Verizon and HBO appear to be looking for ways to add value to their subscriber base and stem churn rates in a down economy. With HBOGO, Shawn Strickland, vice president of consumer strategy and planning for Verizon, said mutual customers have the “convenience of accessing their programming in more ways and in more places.”
HBOGO vs Netflix
Some are comparing HBOGO to Netflix. Netflix has 12 million subscribers, making it the world’s largest subscription service streaming movies and TV episodes over the Internet. For $8.99 a month, Netflix members can watch unlimited TV episodes streamed to their TVs and computers and get unlimited DVDs delivered to their homes without late fees.
“Netflix is becoming more competitive with HBO generally, if you look at the streaming service and the quick turnaround on DVDs and the fact that they get DVDs before HBO gets the movies,” said Colin Dixon, a senior IPTV analyst at The Diffusion Group. “Netflix is beginning to look more like a premium movie service like HBO.”
Indeed, HBOGO doesn’t directly compare. It’s not sold as a separate service and only Verizon FiOS TV customers can access it. Even if HBO expands to other telecoms and wireless carriers, the model still relies on HBOGO as a way to offer existing subscribers additional ways to…