HBO Is Coming to Amazon Prime
Amazon and HBO are joining hands for an exclusive licensing deal that will bring HBO's content to Amazon's 99-per-year Prime subscription service, with the first shows hitting Prime on May 21. Assuming you're a fan of the sort of content HBO offers, including some of the highest-acclaimed series in television history, that's as big a deal as any in recent memory  the first time in history HBO's paired off with an online-only subscription-based streamer. It means access to HBO will no longer be limited to cable or satellite provider packages, opening the door wide for the first time to cord-cutters who've doubtless been waiting for a deal like this to go down. It means you'll be able to tap HBO with anything that currently supports Amazon's Prime channel  set-tops, tablets, phones, game consoles, etc.  and gain access to whole swathes of HBO content as well as free two-day shipping and Kindle library lending for Amazon's standard 99-per-year fee. Bear in mind, if you're not a member, that Prime content is free to Prime members this isn't HBO signing up to let Amazon charge you to watch these shows. Amazon says Prime members will have "unlimited streaming access" to shows that include, Amazon says earlier seasons of HBO shows like Girls, The Newsroom and Veep will roll out "over the course of the multi-year agreement, approximately three years after airing on HBO.", Not to worry, cable subscribers and HBO Go users Amazon assures HBO content will remain "on all HBO platforms." HBO hasn't signed any of its series over to Amazon exclusively, in other words only the right to stream existing shows through Prime. What's more, Amazon says the HBO Go app is coming to Amazon's Fire TV set-top box by the end of the year, the upside being access to the full HBO caboodle if you pay monthly for HBO "1,700 titles online including every episode of new and classic HBO series, as well as HBO original films, miniseries, sports, documentaries, specials and a wide selection of blockbuster movies."