HBO is to increase its number of global original series hours by 50% which is nearly 600 hours. The new programs that have been added to HBO are ‘aimed at millennials' and will play well on mobile devices. That's a $2 billion dollar budget geared at growing the millennial audience. To capture the new audience HBO has launched a new digital service, HBO Now, which has nearly 1 million subscribers and is aimed at streaming content via mobile devices. CEO Bewkes said the company is not interested in toying with HBO Now’s $15 dollar subscription fees as a way to boost revenue.
http://variety.com/2016/film/news/time-warner-jeff-bewkes-hbo-original-programming-1201725293/
I think this is a move HBO has had to do for some time to keep up with the extensive growing libraries of their nearest competitors of Hulu and Netflix. If HBO can find avenues to deliver content as seamless as possible such as their introduction of HBO Now they can definitely challenge Netflix and Hulu.
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree. I think in order for HBO to stay at a competing market level it was necessary for them to expand. I'm curious to see how this will play out with their top competitors and if they are successful what other companies will continue to do to remain competitive.
ReplyDeleteI agree completely with Q. Even though, Netflix and Hulu are not mentioned in the article these two competitors are clearly the reason for this action. I would also like to point out that they aren’t actually expanding their service, from what the article says, rather they’re trying to switch over their service to more original TV series similar to “Game of Thrones” and “True Detective”. This is instead of movies, which clearly isn’t as fruitful as their hit TV shows. I also agree with Joelle, I am curious to what Netflix or Hulu will do if anything, to keep their edge over HBO?
ReplyDeleteOne thing I have noticed from Netflix which might be a response to competitors such as HBO, is the increase in their own shows. They have started to produce more of there own shows rather than having to buy the rights of others. This could reduce some of the costs for Netfix which could allow them to charge cheaper rates than there competitors. However, HBO is known for its quality, so Netfix will have a tough job maintaining their success.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great idea since I feel that HBO needs to do something different. Even though Warner Brothers did well with its video games, it needs a different approach to compete with other competitors like Netflix and Hulu.
ReplyDeleteI think now with Netflix and everything HBO might feel like competition is taking over and stealing their customers. I think with the increase in original programming, this will help HBO gain more customers
ReplyDeleteHBO is defiantly taking a step in the right direction. Even though HBO's subscription fees are almost double Netflix, it has some perks that Netflix does not have. For example, after each episode is released it available online the next day, unlike Netflix. Also, a lot of the most popular shows on TV have high budgets. HBO produces a number of expensive shows like Game of Thrones or Rome, where both rank as some of the most expensive shows that have ever been produced. Overall, HBO is on the right track and needs to increase the number of high quality shows they produce.
ReplyDeleteI personally have both Netflix and HBO Go and unless there is something specific I want to watch on HBO, I have often resorted to Netflix simply because there are more options. I think it is a great move by HBO and am looking forward to seeing more of the options that HBO is going to offer
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