HBO has a brand-new reason to offer a standalone online streaming service other than making cord cutters very happy — it could also rake in huge sums of money. Ars Technica points out that a new research note from Barclays Capital analyst Kannan Venkateshwar, who projects that HBO could generate an additional $600 million per year by offering its content online and apart from cable bundles.
FROM EARLIER: HBO inches closer to making cord cutters’ dreams come true
Venkateshwar thinks HBO has two options for making a standalone content streaming service that would let it preserve its relationships with cable providers: First, it could offer a service that would let users stream content between 6 months to 12 months after originally airing, which he thinks HBO could charge $11 per month to access. The second option would be to let users stream all content as it becomes available but to charge them $18 per month for it, which would be more than what they’d pay for HBO with a cable bundle.
The analyst believes that between 4.4 million and 6.6 million households would be interested in the $11 package while less than 1 million would be interested in the $18 package. Either way, it looks like HBO could offer a standalone streaming option without significantly angering its cable partners that would also give it a significant and immediate revenue boost. What’s not to love?
