HBO/Cinemax Takedown

You’re right about that and I like what they have become better than what they started as.

How so? Because of the original series? I like movies. HBO started as a premium movie service. There are too many other competitors now who do just as good a job (or better) in that regard. HBO thinks it has a niche with its original programming. Ok, maybe for some people. I couldn't care less. I like Westworld but its not enough of a reason for me to switch to ATT for it
 
How so? Because of the original series? I like movies. HBO started as a premium movie service. There are too many other competitors now who do just as good a job (or better) in that regard. HBO thinks it has a niche with its original programming. Ok, maybe for some people. I couldn't care less. I like Westworld but its not enough of a reason for me to switch to ATT for it
Yes, you can care less but I would bet you are in the minority. The original series have been winning Emmy’s for years. They don’t get to make those series without a very large viewing base. That they have.
 
The main appeal of the movie channels has definitely shifted from uncut commercial free movies to original series. While HBO has always had some original content, for the past two decades now they have been a powerhouse. Can you believe we are a month and a half away from the 20th anniversary of the premier of The Soprano’s? I think that was the pivotal moment not just for HBO, but it influenced Showtime and Starz to have their own series as well.

The whole reason I started subscribing to HBO was due to The Soprano’s and Six Feet Under. The reason I started subscribing to Showtime was Californication. I don’t subscribe to HBO so I can watch first run Warner Bros or Universal movies premier at 8PM on Saturdays. Not that this is anything scientific, but those that I know that subscribe to HBO and Showtime do so more for the original series then for movies.
 
Yes, you can care less but I would bet you are in the minority. The original series have been winning Emmy’s for years. They don’t get to make those series without a very large viewing base. That they have.

I posted a long list of HBO Emmy winners/nominees in the other thread the last time someone claimed that HBO isn’t what it once was. They can refer back to that list or you can type them all up again. Either way, no other premium channel has consistently produced as much high-quality content as HBO. Many of these people are either not watching or just trying to justify not subscribing in their minds.
 
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So you're saying everyone buys HBO just for their original series? I can't believe I'm the only one out there who still believes a "premium" channel should be mostly about the movies? I don't sub to Netflix because of their original content. Sure, I like one or two of them, but its still about access to movies for me.
 
So you're saying everyone buys HBO just for their original series? I can't believe I'm the only one out there who still believes a "premium" channel should be mostly about the movies? I don't sub to Netflix because of their original content. Sure, I like one or two of them, but its still about access to movies for me.

OK that’s a fair point that I didn’t consider. You have a completely different value assessment of HBO. For me, the last 20 years or so of HBO movies have just been filler in between original content.
 
You have a completely different value assessment of HBO.

I hadn't thought of it that way, but apparently so. My family watches A LOT of movies together, wheras I tend to watch series like Westworld and Ozark (Netflix) by myself. This made HBO expendable for us. To be honest, we use the Dish Movie Pack quite a bit and aren't missing HBO at all. Perhaps "Dish Movie Pack" is the most appropriately titled premium package Dish has, because the focus is still on movies! ;)
 
I was prepared for a slew of calls following the HBO/Cinemax takedown. Unlike every DISH channel dispute in the last 18 years, I have yet to receive a single call on this one. I understand my customer base is a small sample size but it is surprising none the less.

Same here. If your getting no calls, it means nobody cares and likely HBO ain’t coming back for a long time
 
Sure HBO does have original series, but other premiums do too. I have talked to a half a dozen Dish subscribers since HBO was dropped. Only two of the 6 had it as they have the Everything Pack. One doesn't even miss HBO. The other picked it up streaming. It was $15 with Dish, and $15 streaming. They get the money back from Dish and then spend it for streaming.
 
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Game of Thrones is the only HBO show that interests me.
Best Buy had $25 HBO NOW gift cards on sale last week for $15.
Picked up a couple so that I'm ready for next spring when it returns.
Before HBO was taken off of Dish I would wait till Dish had their HBO/Cinemax free preview weekend and download the Game of Thrones or what ever else I liked and binge watch them. Dish would usually have 2 HBO free weekends a year.
 
Game of Thrones is the only HBO show that interests me.
Best Buy had $25 HBO NOW gift cards on sale last week for $15.
Picked up a couple so that I'm ready for next spring when it returns.

This. HBO’s problem now is they still have shows that win awards, but outside of Game, nobody cares much about them. Westworld seemed like a contender, but even that kind of hit the skids. After years and years, they finally started showing most new releases in the proper aspect ratio, but it wasn’t worth 15 dollars. I was out a month before the nonsense began.
 
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Let’s remember, shows nominated for and won awards not voted on by the customers... the awards mean nothing. That goes for music, movies and just about everything else as well.
 
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I always had a hard time subbing to HBO at full $15 price, but grabbed the deals when they came along. I could look at every movie playing on HBO, 80% were old movies, the others didn't interest me or I'd seen them somewhere else.

However, we fell hard for Game of Thrones and were binging it trying to catch up before the new/last season. We were surprised at how good Barry is (and it won some surprising awards.) We go back and watch the on demand series we missed, and they have some of the best series anywhere in their vault: Band of Brothers, The Pacific, Boardwalk Empire, Deadwood, Westworld, of course Last Week with John Oliver, The Newsroom, Oz, True Blood, Veep, the Wire, Those are just the ones we've watched or are on our go back and watch them list.

If you're not interested in their on demand vault, I can see how hard it is to pay $15 a month. The first run original series are great, some of the best TV out there, but $15 a month is a lot for two or three shows a week.

All that said, this clearly appears to be ATT attacking a competitor. This is the same as Directv pulling HBO off of Dish (it IS Directv, since Directv is part of ATT.) OTOH there's no law that says HBO has to be available on every provider.
 
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If you have the Google Opinion Rewards App, it can be used to pay for HBO NOW and Showtime subscriptions. I have $70 on my account and recently used some for Showtime, when my 6 mos. discount was over. I watch "The Affair".
 
I always had a hard time subbing to HBO at full $15 price, but grabbed the deals when they came along. I could look at every movie playing on HBO, 80% were old movies, the others didn't interest me or I'd seen them somewhere else.

However, we fell hard for Game of Thrones and were binging it trying to catch up before the new/last season. We were surprised at how good Barry is (and it won some surprising awards.) We go back and watch the on demand series we missed, and they have some of the best series anywhere in their vault: Band of Brothers, The Pacific, Boardwalk Empire, Deadwood, Westworld, of course Last Week with John Oliver, The Newsroom, Oz, True Blood, Veep, the Wire, Those are just the ones we've watched or are on our go back and watch them list.

If you're not interested in their on demand vault, I can see how hard it is to pay $15 a month. The first run original series are great, some of the best TV out there, but $15 a month is a lot for two or three shows a week.

That is the saving thing for me with any of the premium move apps, is the on demand content. If it wasn't for that, they would not be as interest.

All that said, this clearly appears to be ATT attacking a competitor. This is the same as Directv pulling HBO off of Dish (it IS Directv, since Directv is part of ATT.) OTOH there's no law that says HBO has to be available on every provider.
 

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