Good news for streaming fans, HBO has announced two new updates to its services.
Game of Thrones viewers in Latin America and the Caribbean rejoice, HBO Latin America has announced its plans to launch a new digital platform for HBO GO as a paid online service, beginning with a launch in Colombia by the end of the year.
Broadband only consumers in these regions will now be able to access content from HBO/MAX channels for the first time, rather than through the Premium HBO/MAX paid TV subscription package through which it is currently available. Subscribers to the TV service will still be able to use HBO GO free of charge.
The new platform will provide the user with the option to choose whether to operate in Spanish, English or Portuguese, program audio tracks and subtitles, a live HBO linear channel and a redesigned user interface so they can easily access all of its 2,500 titles.
Emilio Rubio, CEO of HBO Latin America, commented that the launch reflects changes in content consumption habits, allowing consumers to enjoy HBO content in the manner of their choosing.
The HBO subscriber is a television entertainment enthusiast that develops a relationship of passion and loyalty with the brand, driven by an emotional connection with our content. All of our fans should have access to HBO GO. The idea of launching this service for those who have a broadband connection alone is to ensure that more people who recognize the value of the exclusive offer of HBO/MAX have access to our content and can participate in the social phenomenon our content generates.
Roku customers can also celebrate as the HBO NOW service is now available on Roku Players and TV Models.
Roku customers in the US can sign up for a 30-day free trial by visiting the Roku Channel Store. The subscription, which will cost $14.99 per month, will enable users to access the service at HBONOW.com and on other HBO NOW enabled devices.
Jeff Dallesandro, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Digital Distribution and Business Development at HBO said he was thrilled to make HBO available to millions of Roku customers, as partnering with a streaming leader such as Roku greatly extended the reach of their service, ushering in the next phase of innovation for the network.
Steve Shannon, general manager of Content and Services at Roku, commented that:
We applaud HBO for breaking the mold to deliver a fantastic standalone streaming service for consumers. The combination of the Roku platform and HBO NOW signifies a new era of streaming for our customers because they now have instant access to HBO and its incredible selection of entertainment, even without a traditional pay TV subscription.
Now there’s even more ways to catch up with your favourite shows, there’s really no excuse not to have another Game of Thrones marathon!
More information on these services can be found on the HBO website.
I’m in Argentina.. I don’t know how HBO Go works , but would I be able to download it as an app in my LG SmarTv ?
It still seems as tho in the US, a person like me, who just has a garden variety laptop can not yet get HBONOW. Is this ever going to be a streaming service like Netflix ? I am begging HBO to take my money.
I’m in Mexico and HBO hasn’t give a damn about the HBO Go app for smart TVs, I’ve heard also many complaints from South America about it, still if you have HBO you can access it on your phone or personal computer, google “HBO GO LA” and follow the instructions on the site.
It’s a shame really, FOX beat them to the punch with the app on smart TVs and video game systems for their premium channels (What used to be Movie City) at least in my country.
Fedejru, the HBO Go app is available for free download on most platforms. You need a subscription to use it however.
debbie,
I have an All-In-One computer (read: enormous tablet.) I had to sign-up through iTunes, but I watch it on my computer.
Those of us here in Japan are still waiting….waiting….
S6 will probably be like earlier seasons – we will be the last people on earth with legal access (sometime in late July).
HBO…still too stupid to take my money. Or as much money as they could.
Chad Brick,
Give it to Netflx. They get the whole global thing and have just arrived in Japan.
We have Netflix, Hulu etc here, but it is Japanese Netflix, Hulu etc and is dominated by Japanese programming. It’s not what you get in the US, and if we tried to access that we’d be geoblocked. To varying degrees you may or may not be able to get around it by disguising your IP address. Unfortunately, HBO is pretty Nazi about this and caught most of the expats here who (God forbid) tried to pay for HBO Now last year. Of course, they all just quit watching and waited until July, then signed up for the local HBO-equivalent so they could watch GoT legally. Obviously.
I am thrilled that HBO NOW if FINALLY on the Roku. I’m a cord cutter of cable but have been watching my HBO NOW on my laptop and pc and to finally have it streaming to the Roku is so wonderful. Great news! The minute I saw it I jumped over the Roku site and added the channel.
Get the Kodi app with the naviX extension and thank me later
Chad Brick,
VPN’s won’t work?
I think this is SOP for Netflix in whatever country you go to, because of issues with rights/ownership. Brazilian Netflix gets a lot of American shows, but some are available later than in the US, and the overall selection is not as large. There are, of course, plenty of Brazilian shows/films available that wouldn’t appear on the American version.
If they get this HBO streaming thing working at last in Brazil, I might have to finally go legal.
God of tits and wine,
I know of many people who use VPNs or smart DNS to unlock other Netflix regions. It is against the terms of use, but I don’t know of any case where Netflix went after people who did it.
debbie,
HBO Now is a streaming service. You can go to the website, login and start watching once you create your account.
Colombia 🙂
3 out of the 4 people I know who tried this (myself included) were busted during HBO’s sweep after S5E02. It’s not obvious how they caught people, but VPN isn’t perfect, we could have slipped up in its use, Apple could have tipped them off (we all have Japanese i-devices), who knows. My guess is that their algorithms consider VPN use a red flag, and as soon as some other trigger pops up, you are toast. HBO seems more aggressive than Netflix and Amazon in this respect. I haven’t tried Hulu but others have gotten it to work.
Either way, HBO should just give us a way to legally watch the show along with everyone else. Almost all of the ex-pats I know over here watch it one way or another.
Netflix has remained pretty relaxed about VPN, but they have pressure from investors to crack down. HBO went persecution mode from the start with respect to HBO Now.