Time Warner's HBO GO App Now Available on Xbox One
Time Warner Inc’s. (TWX) HBO GO app for its premier channel HBO will now be available on Microsoft Corporation’s (MSFT) latest gaming console Xbox One. HBO GO will now be available across U.S. to users with an HBO subscription.
Users can access all HBO shows, including the extremely popular Game of Thrones, on the app. Moreover, Kinect voice technology on Xbox will allow them to browse the entire HBO GO catalog through voice or gesture commands. However, it does not allow Snap view. The app has been given a better look for Xbox and has some enhanced features like bigger images.
Apart from HBO GO, Microsoft also offers Netflix, Inc. (NFLX), Amazon.com Inc’s. (AMZN) Prime Instant Video and Hulu Plus on Xbox One. HBO GO was available on older gaming consoles like Xbox 360 and Sony Corp.’s PS3. HBO GO is likely to be offered on PS4 as well, but details on that are not yet available.
Media companies these days are targeting an estimated 10 million Americans who have access to internet but do not subscribe to cable. The group consists mostly of ‘millennials’ who have moved to internet TV.
For some time now, streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Instant Video and YouTube have made internet TV quite popular, this along with rising cable bills have resulted in large number of cord cutters. Even console makers are exploiting this business opportunity as we see Microsoft and Sony signing deals with the over-the-top service providers.
Time Warner had also announced the launch of HBO’s standalone streaming service in 2015. Following which, rival channel Showtime, owned by CBS Corp. (CBS), also announced a streaming service somewhere in 2015.
With so many streaming services in the offing and many new developments, the television landscape will no longer be the same.
Time Warner at present is a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock.
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