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Cable Technology Feature Article

October 12, 2011

HBO Go Coming to Roku

By Oliver VanDervoort, Contributing Writer


Broadcast television is changing and there is very little cable companies can do to stop it. Luckily for the cable industry most companies are well aware of this fact and have started looking towards newrevenuestreams in order to stay afloat while changing with the times. One such company that has actually managed to change with the times and is still able to lean on it’s more traditional revenue streams is HBO. 

HBO Go has allowed the company to still charge people for their regular service, while offering a little something extra to those who enjoy watching movies and shows on their computer or mobile device. The company is now starting to offer the service on more and more devices and recently announced that Roku will be included in the allowed devices shortly.

The beauty of HBO Go is that only people who are current subscribers to the full, cable television service will be able to to access the extended library.  Usually customers use the same login they do to pay or view their cable bill in order to access it. HBO Go is truly a win-win though, as the service offers darn near every episode of darn near every series HBO has produced in the last five years. 

There is also an extensive movie collection that is updated frequently and that includes movies that just premiered on the network. HBO Go is also free, so the cable network is not double dipping on its customers. 

The one drawback of HBO Go so far was that you could not watch the service on your television. Now, thanks to the company partnering with Roku, that is no longer true. Buying the streaming video box (which comes at a very affordable low price of $50) will allow you access to HBO Go on your television should you be a current customer. 

Best of all, HBO Go is attempting to get as close to HD as they can. The company currently only offers 720p, which is the lowest HD setting, but an HBO spokeswoman, Laura Young says that the company is working on providing 1080p resolution in the very near future.






Edited by Jennifer Russell