This is a kind of news that is thrilling to many, many people in USA, but of course abroad as well. There are 3 major streaming services people (that like movies and TV shows) dream about. We are talking about those of us who do not live in USA or those in the US who have decided (or are about to do so) to “cut the cord”. Unblocked, unrestricted, fully open HBO Go. There are hints that changes in the service policy are…being considered.
Unblocked HBO Go vs. unblocked Netflix
Statement above is not really fair, as both services have quite different distribution model. Where Netflix is open almost to everyone – with US IP / US VPN or US proxy DNS one can unlock Netflix instantly anywhere in the world. Netflix is not fussy. It does not cooperate with US cable TV and because of that it is treated as “all evil” in USA.
HBO on the other hand has quite different roots. It started (and still is) as a premium TV channel in USA. As such since the day one it has close ties with TV distributors US (cable TV companies) who, for years now sold HBO productions and channels. HBO Go was created as an add-on to existing premium TV offering.
Few days ago we have read that HBO is slowly considering opening HBO Go as an independent service. Issue for HBO is not an easy one. On one hand they got still great income and massive profit on their Premium live channels. That means, they will try not to make their current partners angry (and that would happen if more people would “cut the cord” with an option of cheap and easy access to HBO Go). On the other side there are Time – Warner shareholders who expect from current CEO that the company, its customers base and profits of course will grow (as you know, users in US turn to Netflix and HULU). However HBO has still time to make decisions on the matter. Their profit margin last is still A LOT bigger than Netflix’s. We would not expect any sudden decisions here.
For now you have following choice. “Use” a friend or family member in USA or Poland and with their account details watch HBO Go via our SmartDNS service. Or, if you do not have such option – go for US VPN and/or Smart DNS and settle for free Hulu, Crackle and Netflix.
If HBO Go would become as open as is Netflix today… Which service would you choose?
