HBO GO to become the next Netflix?
HBO CEO Richard Plepler said Wednesday that the premium channel has previously considered offering a standalone version of HBO Go and that it is willing to offer a service once the numbers are right.
“It’s a sin to leave money on the table,” Plepler said while discussing HBO Go at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference in San Francisco.
“We will not be caught without the ability to pivot should we decide that pivoting is the right thing to do,” Plepler said.
The CEO commented that only a small percentage of HBO subscribers actually use the HBO GO service, and that it does not make sense to offer such a product separate from HBO cable TV service, when there are more people using cable TV than broadband only homes. “We have the capacity to do whatever we want, when we choose to do it.” said Pleper.
“It’s just arithmetic. Right now, this is the best model,” he said of HBO Go requiring a HBO subscription.
