You still can’t get new HBO shows, like this season’s “Game of Thrones,” without paying for TV. But starting in May, you’ll be able to get some of the premium cable channel’s older stuff online — via an Amazon Prime subscription. That means Amazon Prime subscribers will be able to see shows that have already run on HBO, like The Sopranos and The Wire. And they can also watch older seasons of some shows that are still on the air, like Girls, three years after they air. It’s the first time HBO has offered access to its catalog via a streaming video service that’s not its own HBO Go. And it gives Amazon an important bragging right/differentiation point as it tries to gain ground on rival Netflix. A person familiar with the deal says HBO did not shop the catalog to Netflix or other potential Amazon rivals. Unlike HBO subscribers who use HBO Go, Amazon customers won’t be able to get all of HBO’s library.
Unlike HBO subscribers who use HBO Go, Amazon customers won’t be able to get all of HBO’s library. The omissions tell an interesting story about the state of digital licensing.
Some of the shows that Amazon customers won’t see, including “Sex and the City,” “Entourage” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” have their streaming rights tied up in syndication deals with TV outlets. And HBO has kept at least one of its shows – “Game of Thrones” — out of the deal, simply because the property is so valuable to the network, according to a person familiar with the transaction.
The absence of “Game of Thrones” also speaks to the balancing act HBO is trying to pull off here. It wants to make more money from shows it has already sold to its paying subscribers, without giving those subscribers any reason to leave.
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