Now...
Oh, HBO. You are so clever, aren't you?
You launch you HBO NOW app right at the start of the new season of Game of Thrones and offer up a free trial month to everyone.
Of course, given that the trial signup expires soon, the max that we can watch of the season before the trial runs its course is about episode seven.
GAHHHHHH!!
Brilliant, but evil you are, HBO.
I signed up for the HBO Now trial because, hey, why not? Since then I've fallen in love with the service. I've caught up on the final two seasons of Boardwalk Empire, started Silicon Valley (I still say Betas was the better version of that show), and finally got to see what all the hub-ub was about Game of Thrones. That and all the cool movies on there makes the 15 dollars a month totally worth it. My only issue now is that I have to get rid of one of my subscription services. I currently have Netflix, Hulu, WWE Network and HBO Now. I already dumped Hulu, and I might do the same for WWE Network. Aside from the pay-per-views there isn't really anything there to keep my interest anymore.
Posted by: Samuel | Sunday, 26 April 2015 at 12:40 PM
In addition to you already paying for DirecTV, don't forget. We're only currently paying for Netflix as our streaming add-on to DirecTV. I doubt I'll do HBO except for one additional month to catch the end of this season of GoT.
Posted by: kapgar | Sunday, 26 April 2015 at 07:56 PM
As you know, we don't pay cable but have internet and pay for Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon (but I had Prime waaaaaaaaaay before Amazon even opened up streaming and I still mainly use Amazon to buy stuff, not so much streaming). We do have HBO, but because of friends (thank the heavens for wonderful friends). I wanted to sign up for HBO Now and start subscribing, but I'm extremely disappointed that they only have it for Apple TV. We have Roku and as of now, there has been no mention of opening it up to any other devices. Quite frankly I think that's just plain stupid. I'm not going to go out and buy an Apple TV when I have Roku at home. Apparently Apple has an exclusive deal with HBO Now for 3 months (I hate that they get away with that crap).
That being said, they have some pretty awesome shows on there and movies, and I don't even watch Game of Thrones.
Posted by: Marie | Monday, 27 April 2015 at 09:07 AM
You can't fault Apple. Exclusives exist everywhere. How much programming is exclusive to Amazon or Netflix or Hulu or, before that, Blockbuster? This might be Apple's push into the programming and broadcasting forays that everyone has been predicting for years.
Posted by: kapgar | Monday, 27 April 2015 at 09:57 AM
The only reason I don't cut DirecTV is because my old school mom prefers watching her shows that way. I've tried to show her how to watch things online, but she likes to turn on her TV and watch things that way. I can't tell you the amount of DVDs of her favorite movies I've bought her over the years that she's never opened. But whenever they are on TV she's glued to the set. Aye...
Posted by: Samuel | Monday, 27 April 2015 at 12:56 PM
My dad was like that with John Wayne films. We always wanted to buy them for him on VHS and then DVD as gifts. He never wanted them. Preferred watching them when they came on TV.
Posted by: kapgar | Monday, 27 April 2015 at 01:05 PM
I guess people of different eras just prefer watching things the way they're used to.
Posted by: Samuel | Monday, 27 April 2015 at 04:38 PM
It's understandable. But I see the whole TV landscape changing dramatically in the next five years. I want to keep up but am not sure what to keep up with. Yanno?
Posted by: kapgar | Monday, 27 April 2015 at 04:46 PM