Advanced Television

HBO Go joins TWC and Cablevision

December 20, 2011

More than a year after HBO debuted its online streaming service HBO Go, the two cable holdouts, Time Warner Cable and Cablevision, are to turn it on for their customers.

Cablevision has now reached a deal with HBO to allow its customers to stream HBO’s films and shows via the Internet. The announcement came three days after Time Warner Cable said it had reached a similar deal.

Customers of both cable companies have been clamoring for months for access to HBO Go, which is considered to be among the best streaming TV apps. When asked to describe customers’ reactions to the deal, a Time Warner Cable spokeswoman said Monday, “Utter joy, and some relief. No kidding. We don’t get that very often.”

The service is beginning to become available on TV sets, for instance through the Xbox Live service. Netflix has identified it as a main competitor; that company’s chief executive, Reed Hastings, recently called the HBO Go product “quite impressive.”

But Time Warner Cable and Cablevision, which have promoted their own apps for the streaming of TV channels, resisted HBO’s proposed terms for its service at first.

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