If you don’t know already, HBO had made some of its programming, including Game of Thrones, available on Amazon Prime Video a few years ago, and it had been a smart move, considering it was a good way to make their shows available online. However, it has been a while now, since that deal was signed, and things have certainly changed since then. With online streaming becoming as big as it is, now, HBO seems to be making the right choice, and pulling its shows from Amazon Prime Video, when their deal ends next year, said HBO chairman-CEO Richard Plepler, recently.
A new report by Variety says that HBO chairman-CEO Richard Plepler, speaking during Time Warner’s first-quarter earnings call, told the investors that they will be pulling their shows off Amazon’s platform as soon as their deal ends, which is mid-2018. This is a logical decision, considering they want to focus on HBO’s own digital platform, HBO Now, which the corporation markets through channels like Amazon Prime. Plepler suggested that HBO Now sales through Amazon were strong enough to consider cutting off their productions from Prime Video, especially because HBO Now gets hit in the process, having to face competition. Amazon and HBO’s four-year licensing deal allows Amazon to stream some shows from HBO, like The Wire, Sopranos, and Game of Thrones. HBO Now’s growth kills the need for such a deal, especially since it provides all of HBO’s programming, and HBO doesn’t have to worry about licensing, since it’s their own platform. Plepler was quoted saying :
“I don’t think you’ll see us extend or expand our library programming on Amazon beyond the end of next year.”
He suggested that the purpose of the Amazon deal was to get enough traction marketing the lesser known and hyped productions of the HBO family of channels, which it has succeeded in doing. The Amazon deal has been estimated to be valued around $250 millon-$300 million to HBO, but HBO seems to be focused on HBO Now, and it is working, so it seems like come 2018, HBO Now will be the place to head to.
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