HBO will offer paid online-only access to programming

Global Business

The premium cable channel HBO, which is known for its edgy and heady original content, announced it’s launching an online-only service available to U.S. viewers. CCTV America’s Karina Huber reports.

Game of Thrones is HBO’s most-watched show ever with average audience of 18.4 million in the fourth season.

Audiences have to pay a pretty penny to watch it, roughly $90 for cable and $15-$20 for access to HBO. This totals around $110 per month.

But as of next year, HBO is offering an online subscription allowing viewers to bypass a cable box.

Experts said it’s all about capturing younger audiences. The number of so-called “cord cutters”, people who have dropped pay-TV, is growing.

To make up for that lost revenue, media attorney Craig Delsack said cable companies will start charging more for access to broadband, which they largely control.

Despite this, cable providers are not pleased with HBO’s move.

A top executive at Comcast, the world’s largest cable company, recently griped that HBO’s online offering could cannibalize its pay-TV business.

For more on the future of big box cable and how media is consumed, CCTV America interviewed Imani Cheers, an assistant professor at the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University.