# Hbo go



## dcarcy1054 (Jan 23, 2016)

Is there any information as to when and if HBO go will be added as a feature?


----------



## Chris Gerhard (Apr 27, 2002)

There have been a lot of requests for HBO GO and HBO Now but I have never seen any response from TiVo regarding if either will be added. I think usually we don't hear about any service being added until right before it happens but I would think HBO GO is a good candidate for being added at some point.


----------



## NashGuy (May 2, 2015)

dcarcy1054 said:


> Is there any information as to when and if HBO go will be added as a feature?


There's reason to believe that an HBO Go for TiVo app exists, or is currently in development, based on nearly 300 references to "TiVo" in the HBO Go config file. See here for the story that broke that news last month:

http://zatznotfunny.com/2015-12/tivo-hbo-go/

So -- unless HBO developers put tons of references to TiVo in their code just for shucks and giggles -- it would seem that we'll see HBO Go on TiVo before too long, but who knows just when. If I had to bet, I'd say it will arrive in time for the next season of Game of Thrones on April 24 since that show is basically the lynchpin for HBO's entire year now. Hopefully it will arrive before that, though. Maybe TiVo will roll out a software update in Feb., ahead of the debut of new HBO drama Vinyl on 2/14, that will include HBO Go, along with the new Hulu and WWE apps on Roamio. We can hope anyway!

As for HBO Now, the only thing I've read was a statement by then-TiVo CEO last spring when HBO Now debuted that they were in talks with HBO to distribute the new service.

http://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-forest/index.ssf/2015/03/hbo_talks_with_apple_google_ab.html

I do know that HBO's head of digital efforts has said she aims to bring HBO Now to every platform that has HBO Go. So if we see HBO Go on TiVo, it seems reasonable to think we'll also get HBO Now, either at the same time or a few months down the line.


----------



## NashGuy (May 2, 2015)

Another thought on the topic of HBO Now: whether/when we see that app debut on TiVo is likely tied to the future of OTA-only products from TiVo. HBO Now obviously is targeted at cord-cutters, the folks most likely to buy an OTA-only TiVo. But with the Roamio OTA no longer for sale from TiVo (and apparently now gone from Amazon too), that model is done-for. Meanwhile, a less expensive OTA-only version of the new Bolt was supposedly going to be released late last year but is still a no-show.

Maybe the Bolt OTA (or "Bolt Aereo Edition" as it was initially dubbed internally by TiVo) is being held back a bit until the HBO Now app is ready. A new product that can record OTA TV and integrate it with Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, HBO and Showtime (as an add-on in either Hulu or Amazon) would immediately be hailed as "the ultimate cord-cutter box" by reviewers in the press. If it rolls out without HBO Now, you can bet that just about every review will note the lack of that app (especially if the Bolt OTA is released this spring, when Game of Thrones mania will return ahead of the new season in late April).

On the other hand, given the current changeover in the CEO position at TiVo, maybe there will be a shift in their retail strategy and perhaps they'll abandon OTA-only products altogether. I doubt it -- it seems like a real potential growth market -- but it's possible. If that happens, the only TiVo that would work for cord-cutters would be the current model Bolt, which can do either cable or OTA, but is unlikely to attract many cord-cutters due to its high price. I doubt if HBO would even bother to develop an HBO Now app for TiVo in such a case.


----------



## adubravcic (Jan 24, 2016)

it requires a subscription which don't have anyway


----------



## SomeRandomIdiot (Jan 7, 2016)

All the TiVo OTT apps are for services NOT sold by MVPDs.

If TiVo starts adding HBO Go and Sling TV, they have in essence declared war on MVPDs who make up 80% of their subs....as well who they are pitching their STB solutions towards.

If added, Chapter 11 will follow.


----------



## NashGuy (May 2, 2015)

SomeRandomIdiot said:


> All the TiVo OTT apps are for services NOT sold by MVPDs.
> 
> If TiVo starts adding HBO Go and Sling TV, they have in essence declared war on MVPDs who make up 80% of their subs....as well who they are pitching their STB solutions towards.
> 
> If added, Chapter 11 will follow.


Given that HBO Go is a free add-on service to an HBO subscription that one gets from an MVPD and that HBO Go must be authenticated by that MVPD (something virtually all of them now do for a range of devices), I see no reason why TiVo wouldn't try to get HBO Go. Or why cableco's wouldn't authenticate the service on TiVo. Whether one watches all your HBO content from the live cable channel, via cable's HBO OnDemand (available on TiVo from Comcast and Cox) or via HBO Go streaming, you're still paying the cable company for the HBO subscription and they're getting their cut.

HBO Now is a different story, though, since you don't typically go through a cable company to subscribe.


----------



## bradleys (Oct 31, 2007)

SomeRandomIdiot said:


> All the TiVo OTT apps are for services NOT sold by MVPDs.
> 
> If TiVo starts adding HBO Go and Sling TV, they have in essence declared war on MVPDs who make up 80% of their subs....as well who they are pitching their STB solutions towards.
> 
> If added, Chapter 11 will follow.


Change "HBO Go" to "HBO Now" and maybe you have an argument. HBO Go requires a subscription to HBO through your MSO.

Now, would adding HBO Now or Sling TV bother the MSO's - likely no. But the customer base is so small, I don't think it makes a lot of financial sense for TiVo.


----------



## NashGuy (May 2, 2015)

bradleys said:


> But the customer base is so small, I don't think it makes a lot of financial sense for TiVo.


Inasmuch as TiVo is going after non-cable subscribers with OTA-capable DVRs, yes, it does make sense for TiVo to have OTT apps such as HBO Now, Sling TV, Showtime, etc. to add to the existing big three subscription OTT apps they already have (Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Hulu). And given that the app providers rather than TiVo are doing the app development, I don't think adding them to the platform costs TiVo very much -- it's not like TiVo pays Netflix to get their app. (However, each additional app on TiVo probably does slightly increase total user support costs.)

I'd like to know what percentage of retail TiVos in current use are using CableCards vs. OTA. I'd imagine OTA users are a minority but I don't think it's an insignificant number. We'll have to see whether they release the anticipated OTA-only version of Bolt soon. If they decide against it and abandon the OTA-only market, then yeah, we may well never see HBO Now. But if TiVo does continue to produce an OTA-only DVR, and if HBO Go comes to TiVo as expected, I would expect to see HBO Now eventually as well.


----------



## bradleys (Oct 31, 2007)

I think you will see HBO Now as an option, you may actually see the two platforms merge at some point. At least I hope so, HBO Go is a hot mess of a design.

As for Sling TV; it would surprise me if that ever got any traction on TiVo. It has been discussed in numerous threads all over this forum - general consensus, it isn't a good fit for a DVR.

Agree, don't agree? I don't care, it won't ruin my dinner.


----------



## BigJimOutlaw (Mar 21, 2004)

NashGuy said:


> I'd like to know what percentage of retail TiVos in current use are using CableCards vs. OTA.


Roughly 30% are OTA.


----------



## bradleys (Oct 31, 2007)

BigJimOutlaw said:


> Roughly 30% are OTA.


Jim where does that metric come from? I would love to see the metrics accross all used metrics for active devices not just OTA but including it.


----------



## SomeRandomIdiot (Jan 7, 2016)

bradleys said:


> Change "HBO Go" to "HBO Now" and maybe you have an argument. HBO Go requires a subscription to HBO through your MSO.
> 
> Now, would adding HBO Now or Sling TV bother the MSO's - likely no. But the customer base is so small, I don't think it makes a lot of financial sense for TiVo.


Whichever is the standalone.

I apologize if i have the 2 reversed.


----------



## BigJimOutlaw (Mar 21, 2004)

bradleys said:


> Jim where does that metric come from? I would love to see the metrics accross all used metrics for active devices not just OTA but including it.


It was mentioned in a print interview Rogers did around the time the ROTA was released. I can't find it right now, but it was just an off-hand mention.


----------



## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

SomeRandomIdiot said:


> Whichever is the standalone. I apologize if i have the 2 reversed.


It is confusing. No idea why they have two different apps when they do the same thing effort for the source of the authentication.


----------



## SomeRandomIdiot (Jan 7, 2016)

TonyD79 said:


> It is confusing. No idea why they have two different apps when they do the same thing effort for the source of the authentication.


The one that is TVE with authentication probably will be added.

The one that is sold bypassing the MVPD will not be added - unless TiVo wants to lose the only expanding base they have.


----------



## NashGuy (May 2, 2015)

SomeRandomIdiot said:


> The one that is TVE with authentication probably will be added.


That's HBO Go.



SomeRandomIdiot said:


> The one that is sold bypassing the MVPD will not be added - unless TiVo wants to lose the only expanding base they have.


That's HBO Now, the standalone over-the-top (OTT) service.

I see your point but I think the political concerns of adding HBO Now to TiVo -- angering cable MSOs and potentially driving them away from being TiVo partners -- is overstated. I mean, look, TiVo already has introduced an OTA-only DVR with Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime Video. And the updated Hulu app on the Bolt supports a Showtime add-on subscription. So you can already watch the #2 premium "cable" channel via standalone streaming on TiVo. (Actually, you can also add Showtime and Starz streaming to Amazon Prime Video on Roamios, although the current TiVo app doesn't perfectly support it.)

Plus, cable MSOs have the option of offering HBO Now to their broadband-only subscribers and still get a cut, just as they do by selling traditional HBO to their TV subs; CableVision and Verizon have signed up to distribute HBO Now.

I just think that, given what TiVo has already done in terms of embracing OTT streaming/cord-cutters, and given that the cable industry realizes that the video landscape has permanently changed to include OTT streaming, that there's really no risk to TiVo adding HBO Now. I don't see TiVo losing any business with those small-to-midsize cable MSOs who need to license a solid DVR platform like TiVo but don't have the resources to build their own (like Comcast did with their own X1 platform).


----------



## SomeRandomIdiot (Jan 7, 2016)

NashGuy said:


> That's HBO Go.
> 
> That's HBO Now, the standalone over-the-top (OTT) service.
> 
> ...


Look at the growth of the 2 sectors that I posted in another thread. One side is declining, while one has is on the way to doubling over 3 years. (Hint: Its not consumer that is growing).


----------



## NashGuy (May 2, 2015)

SomeRandomIdiot said:


> Look at the growth of the 2 sectors that I posted in another thread. One side is declining, while one has is on the way to doubling over 3 years. (Hint: Its not consumer that is growing).


Yep, I know that, no hints necessary. ;-) As I posted above, perhaps TiVo does decide to abandon its retail efforts or possibly just OTA-only retail efforts; if they do, then I wouldn't see them adding HBO Now or any other OTT apps, really.

But just because retail is declining and MSO is increasing as a percentage of TiVo's bottom line doesn't mean that they will choose to abandon retail. Why leave all that money on the table if retail still constitutes a sizable portion of their profits (and it does)? Especially when there could be an FCC-mandated replacement for CableCard on the horizon soon (see yesterday's big story) that could make TiVos a more seamless solution for pay TV subscribers (and not just cable but also satellite and IPTV).

Lastly, as I laid out in my previous post, I just don't see how adding HBO Now on the retail side costs TiVo any business on the MSO side. (Remember, MSO-issued TiVos only contain the streaming apps that are approved by the MSO while retail-sold TiVos contain all of them.) Heck, at least one MSO that TiVo partners with was selling retail Roamio OTAs to their broadband-only subs.


----------



## SomeRandomIdiot (Jan 7, 2016)

NashGuy said:


> Yep, I know that, no hints necessary. ;-) As I posted above, perhaps TiVo does decide to abandon its retail efforts or possibly just OTA-only retail efforts; if they do, then I wouldn't see them adding HBO Now or any other OTT apps, really.
> 
> But just because retail is declining and MSO is increasing as a percentage of TiVo's bottom line doesn't mean that they will choose to abandon retail. Why leave all that money on the table if retail still constitutes a sizable portion of their profits (and it does)? Especially when there could be an FCC-mandated replacement for CableCard on the horizon soon (see yesterday's big story) that could make TiVos a more seamless solution for pay TV subscribers (and not just cable but also satellite and IPTV).
> 
> Lastly, as I laid out in my previous post, I just don't see how adding HBO Now on the retail side costs TiVo any business on the MSO side. (Remember, MSO-issued TiVos only contain the streaming apps that are approved by the MSO while retail-sold TiVos contain all of them.) Heck, at least one MSO that TiVo partners with was selling retail Roamio OTAs to their broadband-only subs.


You do realize that anything passed, when passed, will take yearS to be implemented?

Look at the time frame from 1998 when the CableCard provisions were put in place and when cablecards actually became truly available to the consumer.

The Sony XBR960 replaced the XBR910 in Summer of 2004 - and was the first Sony HDTV with a cablecard slot.

TiVo Series 3 debuted in 2006.

I know that cable companies could still install STBs/DVRs without a cablecard in 2008 and it was only several years later that the new boxes had to use the cablecard system.

So don't expect AllVid to be around anytime soon, if/when passed.

2020 might be very optimistic, based on history.


----------



## NashGuy (May 2, 2015)

Yep, could be. Between AllVid, ATSC 3.0, and the continuing growth of OTT, the next few years could bring a lot of changes to the TV landscape. Will be interesting to see what unfolds...


----------

