The future of traditional pay-TV is literally at stake. It makes a lot of sense when people find out that they can save as much as $2,000 a year rather than lose it on some television programs they hardly have time to watch. HBO Now and the breed of online video streaming services are accelerating what can be termed as the destruction of cable television. With the Game of Thrones streaming successfully on HBO Now, there is another reason more Americans will be considering ditching cable and satellite TV subscription for the new freedom of choice on the entertainment front.
Access to HBO Now calls for users to part with $14.99 a month, which is significantly higher than $8.99 that Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) asks for its streaming service. However, the benefits of paying the $14.99 price are numerous, with one of them being the ability to watch shows that were only a preserve of the higher paying cable subscribers. The other advantage that comes with HBO Now is that it is available on multiple platforms, including Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s Apple TV hardware, iPhone and iPads. DISH Network Corp (NASDAQ:DISH) also announced that subscribers to its streaming service, Sling TV, can access HBO Now for an extra $15 a month.
Streaming TV explosion
HBO Now joins the ranks of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Netflix, Hulu and Sony Corp (ADR) (NYSE:SNE) in the streaming TV service, a way that is enabling Americans to take greater control of their entertainment bills. Instead of paying for cable TV while just having a few hours a week to watch the shows that the hand down to you, TV watchers are finding it wiser to shift to streaming services.
By carefully selecting your entertainment options, HBO Now and similar services allow for cutting more than $2,000 annually on TV entertainment.
Watch TV anywhere
Streaming TV service enables you to watch whatever you want and whenever you want it, and they are pulling people away from cable TV to the point that it seems the end is beckoning for traditional television business.
