Days after Time Warner Cable nabbed a similar deal, Cablevision on Monday announced that it too had secured an agreement to offer its customers access to HBO GO streaming content.
The cable provider said customers should have access to TV shows and movies from HBO and its sister network Cinemax in the next few months.
"Given the success and popularity of our own Optimum App, we know our customers want the flexibility to watch the programming they receive as part of their cable television service in new ways, on a variety of devices, so we are very pleased to have reached agreement to offer HBO GO and MAX GO to our digital cable customers," John Trierweiler, executive vice president of product management," said in a statement.
HBO GO is accessible online via HBOGo.com and via the Roku set-top box, but subscribers can also watch on mobile devices, including the iPad, iPhone, and Android devices.
MAX GO is also available online and via the iPad, iPhone, and Android devices.
Once connected, HBO subscribers can access more than 1,400 titles online, including every episode of every season from current HBO series like Game of Thrones, True Blood, and Boardwalk Empire, as well as older options like The Sopranos and Sex and the City. HBO GO also includes HBO original films, miniseries, sports, documentaries, specials, and feature-length movies.
MAX GO will include about 400 Cinemax titles online.
The services allow users to create watchlists of content for later viewing, and includes extras like interviews, recaps, and behind-the-scenes clips. You can customize your view in slideshow, grid, or list format, and HBO GO lets users sign up for alerts when new episodes of favorite shows are posted online.
To access, users must subscribe to Cablevision, HBO (or Cinemax), and have a high-speed Internet connection. Mobile devices must have at least a 3G connection. It is only available in the United States. Once enabled, go to HBOGo.com or MAXGo.com and sign in with your Optimum ID and password to start watching.
HBO Go first launched in February 2010 with Verizon FiOS. It allowed subscribers to watch HBO content via the Internet, and later expanded to AT&T U-Verse and DirecTV. According to the HBO GO Web site, the service is also on Charter Communications, DISH Network, Suddenlink, WOW!, and Comcast Xfinity, and beta versions are available for Cox Communications and RCN.
HBO first announced plans to stream its content to portable devices in August 2010, with the service making its debut on iOS and Android devices in May.
Competition in the streaming video market has heated up in recent months, with major cable providers taking their content online via "TV Everywhere" and companies like Netflix, Vudu, and Boxee suggesting users might be able to cut the cord. HBO has never authorized its content to be streamed on Netflix. In a note to shareholders earlier this year, Netflix said its largest competitor over time will likely be a cable channel that improves its Internet video on-demand services, like HBO GO. On that front, check out Should the Cable Industry Fear Netflix?
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