# HBO go with Comcast



## JNEggie (Oct 26, 2014)

Hello,

I am wondering if anyone else is having issues getting HBOgo activated on their TiVo when they have Comcast service?

You have to go to http://www.hbogo.com/activate/ to activate the HBOgo app. Once you select the device (TiVo) you then have to select your service provider. In this case, Comcast is not listed. The website then states "If your TV provider is not listed, access to HBO GO on TiVo® is not offered as part of your HBO subscription. Contact your TV provider and ask for HBO GO on TiVo®."

Is there any word on when Comcast will let us use our HBOgo app on our TiVos?


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

No word. Time Warner just started allowing TiVo this morning, without notice, so it could pop up any time. However Comcast allows you access to all the same content via their VOD app, so they have a lot less incentive then the other cable companies to enable HBOGo. And from what I've read they've taken longer to do it in the past for other devices.


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## JNEggie (Oct 26, 2014)

I had a feeling this was going to be the case. I just find it crazy that they allow me access to HBOgo from my iPhone and iPad..... but won't from my TiVO.....

Go figure....


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## consumedsoul (Jan 13, 2013)

JNEggie said:


> I had a feeling this was going to be the case. I just find it crazy that they allow me access to HBOgo from my iPhone and iPad..... but won't from my TiVO.....
> 
> Go figure....


Comcast authentication is so bizarre. I have a Nvidia Shield TV and most of the network apps don't have authentication available w/ Comcast, yet Apple TV does...


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## leswar (Apr 14, 2005)

So if you access a HBO program via the HBO Go app instead of XOD I'm
guessing that's going to count as part of your data usage.

I'm guessing the XOD TiVo interface i.e. FF, RFF, 8 sec back, skip to tick, skip to end* 
is still better than the usual other interfaces.

[*Sometimes if a TiVo recorded show cuts off the last crucial 15 seconds, I'll use XOD and the skip to end to recapture those last seconds. Works instantly.]


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## slowbiscuit (Sep 19, 2006)

HBO's complete catalog is available on XOD, it just sucks balls to use that interface. But of course you can just search for what you want and get to it that way without wading through the menus.


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## sar840t2 (Mar 1, 2003)

slowbiscuit said:


> HBO's complete catalog is available on XOD, it just sucks balls to use that interface. But of course you can just search for what you want and get to it that way without wading through the menus.


I'm not convinced that's totally accurate - I couldn't find The Leftovers season 1 on XOD, and since Comcast won't let me use HBO GO on my Roamio Pro I had to resort to watching them via the HBO GO website.


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## patrickthickey (Sep 4, 2002)

Comcast has less than a great feeling for Tivo, since the beginning. So this doesn't surprise me in the least. 

Cord cutting is all they fear, and a multi media box like the Tivo is the enemy.


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## Chuck_IV (Jan 1, 2002)

patrickthickey said:


> Comcast has less than a great feeling for Tivo, since the beginning. So this doesn't surprise me in the least.
> 
> Cord cutting is all they fear, and a multi media box like the Tivo is the enemy.


I'm not sure about that. I mean they are one of just a few that actually bothered to create a VOD app for Tivo. That should say something.

I just think they are lazy and it's at the bottom of their priority list.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

Chuck_IV said:


> I'm not sure about that. I mean they are one of just a few that actually bothered to create a VOD app for Tivo. That should say something. I just think they are lazy and it's at the bottom of their priority list.


Actually, Comcast was using TiVo for a Dvr a while back in test markets. So, their relationship has been quite good.


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## slowbiscuit (Sep 19, 2006)

sar840t2 said:


> I'm not convinced that's totally accurate - I couldn't find The Leftovers season 1 on XOD, and since Comcast won't let me use HBO GO on my Roamio Pro I had to resort to watching them via the HBO GO website.


That's strange, I just browsed to the Premium Channels->HBO On Demand->HBO HD->HBO Series menu and found that show with both seasons, all episodes.

Every show I've ever looked for has been available on HBO with XOD, even old stuff like Oz.


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## JolDC (Dec 21, 2001)

slowbiscuit said:


> That's strange, I just browsed to the Premium Channels->HBO On Demand->HBO HD->HBO Series menu and found that show with both seasons, all episodes.
> 
> Every show I've ever looked for has been available on HBO with XOD, even old stuff like Oz.


Same here in Comcast in Virginia. OnePass, however, links to a pay version but launching the XOD app and drilling down found the included with subscription version.


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## sar840t2 (Mar 1, 2003)

slowbiscuit said:


> That's strange, I just browsed to the Premium Channels->HBO On Demand->HBO HD->HBO Series menu and found that show with both seasons, all episodes.
> 
> Every show I've ever looked for has been available on HBO with XOD, even old stuff like Oz.


Interesting, thanks. Maybe I didn't drill down the right path.


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## dswallow (Dec 3, 2000)

FYI I had expressed my desire for HBO Go authenticatation to @ComcastCares and received this reply:

*ComcastCares ‏@comcastcares Mar 2*
@dswallow There are no plans for supporting HBO Go on TiVo at this time. We apologize for any inconvenience. -Ken

I would encourage folks to publicly call them out on this and ask for support. I do wish we had some real knowledge about what exactly it entails for the providers to offer this authentication and why it isn't purely automatic across all supported devices once the provider participates at all.


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## slowbiscuit (Sep 19, 2006)

I also fail to understand why it would be supported on one device (e.g. Roku) and not others, given that the authentication *should* be device-independent. I think the app is authenticating with Comcast via HBO, in other words, not directly from it to Comcast.

Even more of a head-scratcher when it merely replaces HBO on XOD, and that it would add more to your cap usage (if you're capped) and thereby potentially make more money on data use overages for Comcast.


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## rainwater (Sep 21, 2004)

slowbiscuit said:


> I also fail to understand why it would be supported on one device (e.g. Roku) and not others, given that the authentication *should* be device-independent. I think the app is authenticating with Comcast via HBO, in other words, not directly from it to Comcast.


Comcast tends to not approve devices for apparent business reasons. The relationship they have with the company seems to be the ultimate factor. It certainly isn't a technical reason.


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

dswallow said:


> FYI I had expressed my desire for HBO Go authenticatation to @ComcastCares and received this reply:
> 
> *ComcastCares ‏@comcastcares Mar 2*
> @dswallow There are no plans for supporting HBO Go on TiVo at this time. We apologize for any inconvenience. -Ken
> ...


I would also suggest everyone file an FCC complaint about it. Comcast has been pulling this same BS forever with HBOGo. It took them forever to allow authentication of the Roku app.


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## merccat (Sep 5, 2015)

Emotional roller coaster here... I was so elated to see HBO Go come to my Roamio, only to have all my hopes and dreams crushed by Comcast mere minutes later. Now im back in a deep depression, thanks Comcast. &#128540;

For me its not just that the XOD comcast app is fugly.. Its un usabale... Every single time I want to watch somehing on it, I have to go to the other room, unplug the roamio wait 10 seconds and plug it back in... Every time! Otherwise i get some service provider error... Common comcast!


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## merccat (Sep 5, 2015)

And now moving onto acceptance...

Maybe this means the HBONow app is not far behind and I can give my money directly to HBO instead of comcast soon enough.


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## slowbiscuit (Sep 19, 2006)

rainwater said:


> Comcast tends to not approve devices for apparent business reasons. The relationship they have with the company seems to be the ultimate factor. It certainly isn't a technical reason.


They're working with Tivo for a new IP access standard to Comcast programming, so they must have a decent relationship (and of course they came up with XOD in the first place).

If it's a business reason, it's certainly one that's unfathomable to me.


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## damburke (Nov 7, 2014)

For some reason Comcast is usually the last major cable provider to get on board with HBO GO. I had the same problem a couple of years ago with a ROKU player. Strange that usually Comcast will be the first when rates increase, but last when providing benefits to their customers. This could also be the reason that Comcast is right up their with Wal-Mart when it comes to customer service!!!!


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## samccfl99 (Sep 7, 2013)

damburke said:


> For some reason Comcast is usually the last major cable provider to get on board with HBO GO. I had the same problem a couple of years ago with a ROKU player. Strange that usually Comcast will be the first when rates increase, but last when providing benefits to their customers. This could also be the reason that Comcast is right up their with Wal-Mart when it comes to customer service!!!!


Can be equated with ATT with regards to their updates of Android and also how cheap they are with data....The bigger they are..........

As for the Tivo/Comcast relationship, it should be good considering they got together and made the XOD app, but after 2 years of chasing Tivo to have either them program the PGUP/DN button to do the 5 minute skip that all Comcast Dvr's have done for maybe 15+ years, I gave up on that project to get them to fix it.

If Tivo would fix just the OnePass to read the XOD entries right, it would not really matter if HBO Go worked or not. Oh well, at least we can get everything on XOD. At least the app works better than the old menu Comcast had or even the stupid X1 XOD Tiles...now that is ridiculous. Heck, I hardly watch XOD anyway...LOL...


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## gweempose (Mar 23, 2003)

samccfl99 said:


> If Tivo would fix just the OnePass to read the XOD entries right, it would not really matter if HBO Go worked or not. Oh well, at least we can get everything on XOD. At least the app works better than the old menu Comcast had or even the stupid X1 XOD Tiles...now that is ridiculous. Heck, I hardly watch XOD anyway...LOL...


In some ways, I like TiVo's XOD app more than HBO GO. I can't stand the way the seasons are organized on HBO GO. It automatically takes you to the last episode first, and everything is in reverse order. Plus, you have to be very careful not to look at the stills while queuing up your episode, as they often contain spoilers. Heck, they even have spoilers right on the main page. I noticed last night that the first image that comes up on HBO GO is of the most recent episode of GoT. The screenshot they used clearly shows a specific character on a horse. If someone had never watched the show, they would now know that this particular character is still around in season 6. That's kind of bulls**t, in my opinion.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

gweempose said:


> In some ways, I like TiVo's XOD app more than HBO GO. I can't stand the way the seasons are organized on HBO GO. It automatically takes you to the last episode first, and everything is in reverse order. Plus, you have to be very careful not to look at the stills while queuing up your episode, as they often contain spoilers. Heck, they even have spoilers right on the main page. I noticed last night that the first image that comes up on HBO GO is of the most recent episode of GoT. The screenshot they used clearly shows a specific character on a horse. If someone had never watched the show, they would now know that this particular character is still around in season 6. That's kind of bulls**t, in my opinion.


Or you assume it is a generic image. I don't really look at the pictures for spoilers.


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## gweempose (Mar 23, 2003)

TonyD79 said:


> Or you assume it is a generic image. I don't really look at the pictures for spoilers.


It *should* be a generic image, especially on the main page, but it's not. As a result, a person could be accidentally exposed to an episode specific spoiler even if they are not exploring that particular show.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

gweempose said:


> It should be a generic image, especially on the main page, but it's not. As a result, a person could be accidentally exposed to an episode specific spoiler even if they are not exploring that particular show.


I've seen the image you are talking about. It gives nothing away. It's a long time character. Big deal.


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## gweempose (Mar 23, 2003)

TonyD79 said:


> I've seen the image you are talking about. It gives nothing away. It's a long time character. Big deal.


It may not be a big deal to you, but it might be to someone who was in the process of binge watching the show and was still in the early seasons.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

gweempose said:


> It may not be a big deal to you, but it might be to someone who was in the process of binge watching the show and was still in the early seasons.


I'm saying you are reading too much into it.


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## nrnoble (Aug 25, 2004)

Any further progress? I check every few months and nothing has changed, can't activate HBOGO on Tivo.

I am still not clear as to why HBOG0 is available using some devices, but not others. Where is the bottlenet? 

I suppose it's rather moot, HBO content can be accessed through comcast's app. I also have a Roku, which I am using more and more, and Tivo less and less. 

Has the shipped sailed for TiVo as being the central hub for entertainment services?


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Comcast gets to choose which devces they allow HBOGo to be available on, not TiVo.

As for TiVo being the central hub... It looks like TiVo might be conceding that and taking a Tablo style approach for their next generation product...

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=543174


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## PSU_Sudzi (Jun 4, 2015)

dswallow said:


> FYI I had expressed my desire for HBO Go authenticatation to @ComcastCares and received this reply:
> 
> *ComcastCares ‏@comcastcares Mar 2*
> @dswallow There are no plans for supporting HBO Go on TiVo at this time. We apologize for any inconvenience. -Ken
> ...


It makes no sense for them to set up and maintain authorization networks, etc. for the HBO Go app on TiVo when they allow you to access all HBO content natively on a TiVo though their app.


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## nrnoble (Aug 25, 2004)

Dan203 said:


> Comcast gets to choose which devces they allow HBOGo to be available on, not TiVo.


Yeah, I understand its comcast's network, so they have the upper hand from a business perspective, but that is not to say that comcast has not given Tivo the green light, and TiVo has to do various technical things to make it work... Just speculating. I am not suggesting one or the other is causing the delay. Most likely the lack of HBOGO is a combination of factors that need to come together.


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## chiguy50 (Nov 9, 2009)

nrnoble said:


> Yeah, I understand its comcast's network, so they have the upper hand from a business perspective, but that is not to say that comcast has not given Tivo the green light, and TiVo has to do various technical things to make it work... Just speculating. I am not suggesting one or the other is causing the delay. Most likely the lack of HBOGO is a combination of factors that need to come together.


This is the logical explanation:



PSU_Sudzi said:


> It makes no sense for them to set up and maintain authorization networks, etc. for the HBO Go app on TiVo when they allow you to access all HBO content natively on a TiVo though their app.


IOW, the need for HBOGo via Comcast is obviated by the inclusion of HBO programming on XOD.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

nrnoble said:


> Yeah, I understand its comcast's network, so they have the upper hand from a business perspective, but that is not to say that comcast has not given Tivo the green light, and TiVo has to do various technical things to make it work... Just speculating. I am not suggesting one or the other is causing the delay. Most likely the lack of HBOGO is a combination of factors that need to come together.


That's not how it works. TiVo has nothing to do here. Comcast gives the green light to HBO and HBO enables it. There is no technical work needed to be done by TiVo. The app itself doesn't know which provider you use, it generates a unique code that you enter into HBO's website to authorize. So the only thing that needs to be updated to support HBOGo on Comcast is the HBOGo website. TiVo doesn't have to do anything on their end to enable it.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

chiguy50 said:


> IOW, the need for HBOGo via Comcast is obviated by the inclusion of HBO programming on XOD.


It's more about control. Comcast would rather you use their VOD system, where they control the UI and "user experience" then the HBOGo app. That's why they haven't enabled HBOGo on the TiVo.


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## chiguy50 (Nov 9, 2009)

Dan203 said:


> It's more about control. *Comcast would rather you use their VOD system, where they control the UI and "user experience" then the HBOGo app.* That's why they haven't enabled HBOGo on the TiVo.


Well, that goes without saying. (Notwithstanding that you said it anyway. )

But it's still a redundancy since the same programming is already accessible via XOD.


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## slowbiscuit (Sep 19, 2006)

Yep, I've posted in previous HBO Go Comcast threads that ALL of HBO's catalog is available in XOD. Everything they've done, plus all the current movies they have running.

The UI sucks balls but at least it's all there.


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## HerronScott (Jan 1, 2002)

slowbiscuit said:


> Yep, I've posted in previous HBO Go Comcast threads that ALL of HBO's catalog is available in XOD. Everything they've done, plus all the current movies they have running.
> 
> The UI sucks balls but at least it's all there.


I just use TiVo's search and avoid the XOD interface (at least the main menus that is).

Scott


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## schatham (Mar 17, 2007)

HerronScott said:


> I just use TiVo's search and avoid the XOD interface (at least the main menus that is).
> 
> Scott


Tivo search does not find some HBO series that are available on demand. I like to have them in my shows list, but Tivo can't make a one pass because it does not see them. This could be a Rovi issue. I wanted to set up Lucky Loui and life's to short. My Roamio can't find them, but they are their via on demand app.


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## Adam1115 (Dec 15, 2003)

Comcast told me the do not have HBO in HD, only HBO 2 and Signature when I called in wondering.

They told me it wasn't needed because the have HBO Go. Only I can't use it with the DVR they charge me monthly to use on their system with a cablecard.


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## slowbiscuit (Sep 19, 2006)

They're idiots, as usual. Of course they have HBO in HD.


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## Adam1115 (Dec 15, 2003)

I'm going to have to call back as I cannot find it in their lineup. They are telling me they no longer have the main HBO in HD.


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## Adam1115 (Dec 15, 2003)

Another rep saying the same thing, HBO 2, Signature, and Latino are all they have in HD. WTF? I'm on hold for a supervisor.


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## Adam1115 (Dec 15, 2003)

This seems to confirm it- no HBO in HD.

Missing HBO/STARS/MAX/SHO HD channels - Xfinity Help and Support Forums


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## HerronScott (Jan 1, 2002)

Adam1115 said:


> This seems to confirm it- no HBO in HD.
> 
> Missing HBO/STARS/MAX/SHO HD channels - Xfinity Help and Support Forums


Wow, that would really suck here since we only get the main HBO channel in HD (none of the other ones).

Scott


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## Adam1115 (Dec 15, 2003)

Problem is resolved - just dumb Comcast reps. They seemed to have gotten confused that I would have both an SD and HD version of the same channel. Supervisor said the Xfinity DVR uses the SD channel number and remaps to the HD version automatically.

They did something and it showed up.


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## dameatball (Feb 24, 2014)

Chuck_IV said:


> I'm not sure about that. I mean they are one of just a few that actually bothered to create a VOD app for Tivo. That should say something.
> 
> I just think they are lazy and it's at the bottom of their priority list.


I couldn't disagree more. Laziness is not the issue here. It's the control of how, when and where you watch their content and how they get compensated for it. Look at their history, we will never see HBOGo on Tivo. it's been 18 months. This isn't a major undertaking, they are choosing not to make it available so you have to use their dog**** app.


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