Cablevision Gets HBO OTT Video Service

16 Mar, 2015 By: Erik Gruenwedel

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Optimum is the first cable provider to distribute HBO Now via Internet and Wi-Fi

Cablevision March 16 announced it will make HBO’s pending subscription streaming service — HBO Now — available to its broadband Optimum Online subscribers. The SVOD service, which will offer current and catalog seasons of proprietary programs such as “Game of Thrones,” “True Blood” and “True Detective,” will be available as a direct link on Cablevision 90 days after its planned launch on Apple TV at the beginning of April.

Cablevision plans to provide pricing and other particulars for HBO Now in the coming weeks. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

HBO Now, which is exclusive to Apple for the first three months, becomes the first domestic streaming service to gain direct access to a cable operator’s subscribers.

Netflix has sought direct access to U.S. pay-TV operators with limited success. Comcast Cable has refused to consider the concept, citing Netflix as a competitor. Reed Hastings has called for domestic pay-TV operators to embrace Netflix as an interdependent partner. Last December, Dish Network became the first major multichannel video program distributor to offer Netflix direct access to its satellite TV subs.

“We are well-positioned to support HBO Now and, as technology advances, Cablevision will continue to meet the evolving needs of our customers,” Kristin Dolan, COO of Cablevision, said in a statement.

Manhattan, N.Y.-based Cablevision, which owns Madison Square Garden and the New York Knicks, operates with about 2.2 million video subscribers.

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