Many have been wondering if the massive growth in Netflix"s streaming video business will take away from the audience that watches broadcast and cable TV shows. Well, premium pay cable network HBO is doing something about that and so far it seems to be successful. It launched its HBO Go streaming video app for iPhone, iPad and Android based phones and it generated one million downloads in its first week.
Now News.com is reporting that HBO should break the 3 million download barrier for the app this weekend. Tonight sees the premiere of the fourth season of its popular vampire themed drama True Blood. HBO is doing something unusual by offering HBO Go users a way to see the full second episode of the season via the app right after the first episode airs on HBO"s cable network.
HBO Go lets users stream not just its current catalog of movies but also all of its acclaimed TV shows with all seasons and episodes intact. The Sopranos, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Wire and many more are all available to be accessed via the app or by going to the HBO Go web site if you have a PC. None of those shows are available for streaming on Netflix. The good news is that if you subscribe to HBO on your cable TV system you can access all of this for no extra cost. The bad news? Your cable company must cut a deal with HBO in order for you to access HBO Go"s services. Large cable TV providers like Time Warner Cable currently don"t give their providers access to the streaming video service.