Subscribing to HBO for GoT ?

[Dee_Ann]

I'm quite miffed about HBO not being made available via Roku. I'm sure I'm not the only one.

I want to watch Game of Thrones this year in real time as it airs and I have no intention of buying an Apple TV box just to do so.

It also miffs me that HBO is listed at $20 a month on the Dish site. That's $60 for three months just to watch GoT. I have no interest in any other content on HBO and it won't even be watched at all except once a week for an hour. At 10 episodes that's $6 an episode or $60 for ten hours of viewing.

None the less, I want to watch it on my 50" TV every Sunday night as it airs.

The questions I have are:

• Is there a long term commitment to sign up for HBO? I won't have to commit to a year or six months will I?
• 
  
• Can I cancel as soon as season 5 of GoT is over without penalty? I don't want to get stuck having to pay for a fourth month because of timings in billing and that silly pay in advance thing.
• 
  
• What happens to recordings in the EHD (ViP211k) after my subscription is canceled? Will they wipe my recordings out? (Not a biggie but curious about it). It would be nice to keep them and watch them again in the winter..

Certainly there must be a lot of people that do this same thing. I think the $20 a month is a bit unfair but I guess that's the price I'll pay since I want to see it when it airs on MY big TV and not days or weeks later at someone else's house, it at all.

Tips, advice, pitfalls to subscribing just for a single series?

Thanks!

 

[bobvick]

There is no "commitment" when you subscribe to HBO, if you keep it for at least 30 days, otherwise I think there is a $5 fee to remove it. Anything you record can still be watched any time. Right now, they have a special HBO and Cinemax both for $20 per month for 6 months.

 

[Dee_Ann]

There is no "commitment" when you subscribe to HBO, if you keep it for at least 30 days, otherwise I think there is a $5 fee to remove it. Anything you record can still be watched any time. Right now, they have a special HBO and Cinemax both for $20 per month for 6 months.

Good to know there's no commitment... But I'm not interested in cinemax and I don't want to get locked into a six month deal. It would be nice if they would just drop the cinemax and give me the HBO for 1/2 price.
I know GoT usually skips a week near the end of the run for a holiday I guess. So pretty much a three month run.

I have no delusions that HBO Now will be on Roku this year but next year they should surely have it and I'll be signing up for three months of it for season 6 of GoT.
It sucks that Dish is getting $20 a month when on Apple you get it for $15. But to spend $100 on a box that I wouldn't use otherwise (sucky line of sight IR remote!) doesn't make sense.
I'm a huge Apple fan, I have four Macs, probably 5-6 iPhones and an ancient iPad 1.0 but I really have no desire to buy a sucky $100 Apple TV that I wouldn't use much at all.

$20 it is then...

 

[mike1977]

The Apple TV sells for $69 right now.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

In addition it appears that HBO Now will be available on other devices after Apples 3 month exclusivity deal is done.

 

[Dee_Ann]

In addition it appears that HBO Now will be available on other devices after Apples 3 month exclusivity deal is done.

Right. And that's what really irks me about this. They pulled this to try and get GoT fans to buy Apple TV boxes. It's a crummy, low rent move by both Apple and HBO.

The Apple TV sells for $69 right now.

While that is a bitt better than $99 it's still more than I want to pay just to watch 10 hours of one show. I already own a Roku 3 which is awesome.
It has a WIFI remote so there's none of that pesky line of sight stuff to fuss with. If someone gave me one for free I would accept it and use it but I'm not buying one until they come up with a LOT of channels and a WIFI remote.
There are thousands of channels for Roku, there are maybe dozens for the Apple.
I have an LG Blu-ray player with streaming apps baked in and they are steamy poo. I have a fairly new Samsung 50" TV with streaming apps baked in and they are rubbish as well.
Both of them constantly stop playback to buffer no matter the content, be it Netflix or a Plex server running on one of my Macs. The Roku 3 has never once pulled that buffering nonsense on me.

The deal HBO made with Apple gives them a three month exclusive so that means there will be no other device (Roku, Vudu, Samsung, LG, etc...) that will have access to the new HBO service.
And of course that means it will be after GoT season 5 is long over before it might come to Roku. By next year it should be on Roku and if so I'll subscribe at that time.

But for now, $69 for Apple TV plus 8.25% tax plus $15 a month for HBO plus tax so at best I would be looking at the very least, $120 if not more. $12 an hour for TV?
That's waaaaaaaaay too much.

If I go with dish, $20 x 3 / 10 gives me ~$6 per episode.

 

[Foxbat]

Signing up with Dish not only gives you this access to this season, but also HBO Go which allows you to binge on Seasons 1-4 before April 12th.

Most of the online Video services have Season Passes for Game of Thrones available for approximately $30-40 per season. I'm not sure if Google Play is supported on Roku as I have a pair of AppleTVs, but Amazon Prime has seasons 1-4 available in HD for the $38.99 that matches Apple's iTunes price. Google's price is $10 less, but I'm not sure if that's SD or HD.

Apple did drop the price of the Refurbished AppleTV from $75 to $58 (I believe) but a) they're out of stock, and b) might as well spend the extra $11 (+ tax) for brand new. Also, if you sign up for HBO Now during the initial offering, the first month is free. So $75 for the AppleTV + $30 for three months of HBO Now (1 month included) but it's still $10.50/hour, assuming you'll never watch anything but GoT.

The other thing is wait until HBO Now comes to Roku in July. You'll then be able to watch everything in HBO's on-line catalog. Just stay away from Twitter, Facebook, and other social media until then...

 

[king3pj]

Another option is to just subscribe to HBO for the last 30 days of the upcoming season. If you do that you will only have to pay $20 for one month of service and you can either stream the whole season on HBO Go during that month or record the episodes as they air on the various HBO channels. They run them quite a bit on channels like HBO 2. They usually do a marathon towards the end of the season too.

Edit: I see that you said you don't want to wait days or weeks to watch episodes. In that case you will have to subscribe for 3 months and your $6 per episode. If you were willing to be a bit more flexible with it you could do what I suggested and pay $2 per episode.

You just have to decide if it's worth the extra $40 to watch them each week as they air instead of waiting until the last 30 days of the season.

 

[Yespage]

I watched the last season of GoT for free. I just waited for a free preview that allowed On Demand access to HBO Go. Downloaded it to the receiver and watched at leisure over the next couple weeks.

Or you can pay for one month of HBO Go after it has been shown and watch it On Demand over a period of a month.

 

[TheKrell]

I just waited for a free preview that allowed On Demand access to HBO Go. Downloaded it to the receiver and watched at leisure over the next couple weeks.

The only problem with that idea is that it won't work on "DVR Conversion" 211's and IIRC the OP only has 211's. Only real DVRs can do that, correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Deadlocked]

If you have a friend or family member who has HBO Go access get their details. (For free or by splitting the costs)

If you have a friend or family member wishing to watch it as well see if they want to split the costs with you and then give them your details for HBO Go.


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[bellevuecoug]

I agree its frustrating and waaaay too expensive, especially for one show. Kinda makes you more sympathetic to the torrent crowd, huh?

 

[Deadlocked]

Also I do recommend trying Silicon Valley and Last Week Tonight if you pay for it


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[bobvick]

I might be wrong, but I bet that Dish, DirecTv, and others will eventually end up matching the price of HBO Now, like I think Comcast has done. It would do me no good at all, as the broadband speed I get from CenturyLink is not fast enough for me to stream with good quality, but I hazard to guess that several that subscribe now might end up dropping with Dish if it is anything like HBO Go.

 

[Dee_Ann]

Yeah, I have considered all the options, and there are a lot of them and I've decided to just go ahead and subscribe to HBO normally for the entire season. I want to watch each show "in real time" so to speak, as they air. My BFF is gonna bring popcorn and snacks every week, she's hooked on it too but don't have HBO so I gave her a VIP invite to come watch with me every week. I have a 50" TV and a 5.1 surround sound so it should be really great fun.

I am miffed that HBO struck that slimy deal with Apple like they did but oh well.. By next year they should be on Roku and that will be great.

 

[gadgtfreek]

Well, if you opt against subbing for 2-3 months, you could sub at the end as suggested, or last month. Then have a few double feature nights and only spend the $20.

 

[Deadlocked]

Yeah, I have considered all the options, and there are a lot of them and I've decided to just go ahead and subscribe to HBO normally for the entire season. I want to watch each show "in real time" so to speak, as they air. My BFF is gonna bring popcorn and snacks every week, she's hooked on it too but don't have HBO so I gave her a VIP invite to come watch with me every week. I have a 50" TV and a 5.1 surround sound so it should be really great fun.

I am miffed that HBO struck that slimy deal with Apple like they did but oh well.. By next year they should be on Roku and that will be great.

Popcorn and snacks for ten weeks is a good deal. Now if you're both single


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[Dee_Ann]

Popcorn and snacks for ten weeks is a good deal. Now if you're both single


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She's married..

 

[Deadlocked]

She's married..

Well Drats!


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[Darrell S]

I will take what is mine with fire and blood.
Tell them that and maybe they will give you a discount. When I go to cancel online,it usually offers me a half price discount.
The only reason I don't have it with Dish now is because Directv offered me 40.00 off the premier pack for 6 months.