Beamer wrote on Dec 26, 2012, 00:03:
Yeah, people always forget that businesses do things for reasons other than directly making money. It's often about indirectly making money. HBO exists, as you say, to drive subscriptions. It creates TV shows to drive subscriptions. They aren't supposed to make money on their own. Given that it's owned by TW, it likely never will be.

Creston wrote on Dec 26, 2012, 11:21:
Games of Thrones isn't THAT expensive on DVD/Bluray. It's currently 38 and 46 dollars respectively on Amazon. I'm pretty sure I picked it up for 29 dollars on a sale. The pre-order for the 2nd season is 40 bucks.

Compared to, say, Battlestar Galactica, which happily charged 80 bucks for a season, it's pretty cheap.

Anyway, pirates will never pay for anything, so I'm not sure why it really matters that GoT is the most pirated show. It's not lost revenue, but revenue that never existed.

Creston

Beamer wrote on Dec 25, 2012, 20:19:
Why would they ever cut a deal with Netflix. They're in the subscription service business, not the content service. Anything that threatens to lessen that subscription business is a waste. It may capture lost revenue, but it will almost definitely result in a greater loss of subscriptions. Half the internet sits around going "why doesn't HBO join up with Netflix? I'd totally cancel them and stream what I want to see." That's why they haven't done it.

At some point they'll likely decide that they need to switch, but that time is a ways away. For right now they'd prefer people that have no interest in subscribing keep on either buying DVDs at way too much or pirating, and everyone else sit around complaining about how annoying it is but still paying their $20 per month (or whatever it is these days.)

Piracy is indeed easier and cheaper. But HBO doesn't much care. They aren't here to sell you Game of Thrones. They're here to sell subscriptions to their service.

Wallshadows wrote on Dec 25, 2012, 23:19:
I have not seen one episode of GoT legitimately since I don't have HBO.

Am I doing this right?

eRe4s3r wrote on Dec 26, 2012, 03:57:
What about international releases though. Game of Thrones is watched in Europe too (I would say, 50% of viewers are not US citizens) probably more even.

We would gladly pay 1 to 3 € per episode to get it in full HD and on air-date in English. It's like time Warner doesn't want to expand its business. I don't get why....

Kitkoan wrote on Dec 25, 2012, 23:27:
This

Flatline wrote on Dec 25, 2012, 23:35:
Oh please... HBO is owned by Time Warner, who is in the cable business. They have absolutely zero interest in promoting cable cutting, especially as HD cable with a standard decoder box and basic cable is going to set you back 50-60 bucks a month, and usually runs closer to 100 bucks a month. HBO is a loss leader at that point.

The premium channels drive cable subscription, which is where the money is. You'll never see HBO Go on it's own or sensible a la cart charges. That defeats the entire purpose of renting you a cable box and charging you for 400 channels you'll never watch.

Quboid wrote on Dec 25, 2012, 20:41:
I agree with your general point Beamer, but you contradict yourself twice at the end. They are here to sell us Game of Thrones, via DVD/Blu-Ray. Also, HBO are sure to care because people pirating their content will also cost them subscriptions, albeit on a lesser scale.

It will be interesting when they're forced to change, and I agree they will - I don't think it will be that long. It's mind boggling how content providers are so bad this sort of thing, it seems every anti-piracy measure they attempt encourages piracy by making the paid product ever more unappealing. I appreciate doing deals for legal distribution in 200 countries isn't easy, but things like unskippable anti-piracy warnings - you know who isn't bothered by these? Pirates.

Klaus Flouride: Nice one, your avatar got me

Panickd wrote on Dec 25, 2012, 19:34:

Frijoles wrote on Dec 25, 2012, 15:20:
I would _gladly_ pay HBO directly (or Netflix) to get it the same night as Dish/Direct TV/Comcast/etc. I have Netflix, but it takes them several months to get them.

I don't think HBO has ever cut a deal with Netflix (and given their disdain for the online services it seems unlikely they ever will). You either have to buy their shows via iTunes or Amazon's digital video services (provided you're willing to wait for the latest episodes) or you can stream them with HBO Go if you are already paying them for their pay TV services or you can buy their overpriced Blu-ray/DVD copies when they finally decide to release them. Piracy is cheaper, easier and more convenient than any of those options.

dj LiTh wrote on Dec 25, 2012, 17:54:
Also you gotta factor in just how friggin good this show is. Best show on tv easily in quite a while.