ROKU, HBO GO

Comcast is a "valued Microsoft partner."  That explains the xBox--they generate sales for Microsoft on a failing platform. Comcast claims they are not compatible with Roku's service, however, the only reason that might be is that Comcast will not allow Roku to access their servers to validate login credentials for authorization.  Yet they allow ESPN, and others to do just that--so it is possible, they just refuse to implement.

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@wstove wrote:

I bought my dad a Roku box for his birthday specifically so he could enjoy HBO GO. It works on my xbox 360 but when I tried it on the Roku, Comcast is not an available option. 

 

Why is HBO GO available for Xbox 360 but not Roku? The only real difference is that one device is more expensive -  this leads me to believe that it is an issue of profitability rather than customer satisfaction.

 

I understand you must make hard decisions in order to increase the profit of your company. Business is business.

 

However, I strongly feel the amount of customers ($) you are losing due to this exceeds the profit you are gaining by disallowing HBO GO on the Roku.

 

Comcast is a premium cable service, but I do not feel I am being treated as a premium customer. 

 

We are seriously considering transferring to AT&T Uverse. 

 

Thank you,

 

Concerned Comcast Customer

 

 

 

Comcast is a "valued Microsoft partner."  That explains the xBox--they generate sales for Microsoft on a failing platform. Comcast claims they are not compatible with Roku's service, however, the only reason that might be is that Comcast will not allow Roku to access their servers to validate login credentials for authorization.  Yet they allow ESPN, and others to do just that--so it is possible, they just refuse to implement.

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@wstove wrote:

I bought my dad a Roku box for his birthday specifically so he could enjoy HBO GO. It works on my xbox 360 but when I tried it on the Roku, Comcast is not an available option. 

 

Why is HBO GO available for Xbox 360 but not Roku? The only real difference is that one device is more expensive -  this leads me to believe that it is an issue of profitability rather than customer satisfaction.

 

I understand you must make hard decisions in order to increase the profit of your company. Business is business.

 

However, I strongly feel the amount of customers ($) you are losing due to this exceeds the profit you are gaining by disallowing HBO GO on the Roku.

 

Comcast is a premium cable service, but I do not feel I am being treated as a premium customer. 

 

We are seriously considering transferring to AT&T Uverse. 

 

Thank you,

 

Concerned Comcast Customer

 

 

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@wstove wrote:

I bought my dad a Roku box for his birthday specifically so he could enjoy HBO GO. It works on my xbox 360 but when I tried it on the Roku, Comcast is not an available option. 

 

Why is HBO GO available for Xbox 360 but not Roku? The only real difference is that one device is more expensive -  this leads me to believe that it is an issue of profitability rather than customer satisfaction.

 

I understand you must make hard decisions in order to increase the profit of your company. Business is business.

 

However, I strongly feel the amount of customers ($) you are losing due to this exceeds the profit you are gaining by disallowing HBO GO on the Roku.

 

Comcast is a premium cable service, but I do not feel I am being treated as a premium customer. 

 

We are seriously considering transferring to AT&T Uverse. 

 

Thank you,

 

Concerned Comcast Customer

 

 

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@wstove wrote:

I bought my dad a Roku box for his birthday specifically so he could enjoy HBO GO. It works on my xbox 360 but when I tried it on the Roku, Comcast is not an available option. 

 

Why is HBO GO available for Xbox 360 but not Roku? The only real difference is that one device is more expensive -  this leads me to believe that it is an issue of profitability rather than customer satisfaction.

 

I understand you must make hard decisions in order to increase the profit of your company. Business is business.

 

However, I strongly feel the amount of customers ($) you are losing due to this exceeds the profit you are gaining by disallowing HBO GO on the Roku.

 

Comcast is a premium cable service, but I do not feel I am being treated as a premium customer. 

 

We are seriously considering transferring to AT&T Uverse. 

 

Thank you,

 

Concerned Comcast Customer

 

 

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@wstove wrote:

I bought my dad a Roku box for his birthday specifically so he could enjoy HBO GO. It works on my xbox 360 but when I tried it on the Roku, Comcast is not an available option. 

 

Why is HBO GO available for Xbox 360 but not Roku? The only real difference is that one device is more expensive -  this leads me to believe that it is an issue of profitability rather than customer satisfaction.

 

I understand you must make hard decisions in order to increase the profit of your company. Business is business.

 

However, I strongly feel the amount of customers ($) you are losing due to this exceeds the profit you are gaining by disallowing HBO GO on the Roku.

 

Comcast is a premium cable service, but I do not feel I am being treated as a premium customer. 

 

We are seriously considering transferring to AT&T Uverse. 

 

Thank you,

 

Concerned Comcast Customer

 

 

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@wstove wrote:

I bought my dad a Roku box for his birthday specifically so he could enjoy HBO GO. It works on my xbox 360 but when I tried it on the Roku, Comcast is not an available option. 

 

Why is HBO GO available for Xbox 360 but not Roku? The only real difference is that one device is more expensive -  this leads me to believe that it is an issue of profitability rather than customer satisfaction.

 

I understand you must make hard decisions in order to increase the profit of your company. Business is business.

 

However, I strongly feel the amount of customers ($) you are losing due to this exceeds the profit you are gaining by disallowing HBO GO on the Roku.

 

Comcast is a premium cable service, but I do not feel I am being treated as a premium customer. 

 

We are seriously considering transferring to AT&T Uverse. 

 

Thank you,

 

Concerned Comcast Customer

 

 

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With respect to transfer service to new provider, I'm going back to Dish on Tuesday of next week. Tech supposed to be here by 1:00pm.  I can't wait.

 

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@wstove wrote:

I bought my dad a Roku box for his birthday specifically so he could enjoy HBO GO. It works on my xbox 360 but when I tried it on the Roku, Comcast is not an available option. 

 

Why is HBO GO available for Xbox 360 but not Roku? The only real difference is that one device is more expensive -  this leads me to believe that it is an issue of profitability rather than customer satisfaction.

 

I understand you must make hard decisions in order to increase the profit of your company. Business is business.

 

However, I strongly feel the amount of customers ($) you are losing due to this exceeds the profit you are gaining by disallowing HBO GO on the Roku.

 

Comcast is a premium cable service, but I do not feel I am being treated as a premium customer. 

 

We are seriously considering transferring to AT&T Uverse. 

 

Thank you,

 

Concerned Comcast Customer

 

 

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Agreed.  Just realized tonight that Comcast wasn't supported on Roku for HBOgo.  Says to update my service provider (on HBOgo site) and ask them to add Roku.  Bummer.  

Hi all,

We will continue to work with our partners to deliver even more choices to our customers in more places. 

For now, HBO content is not available on the Roku Player for XFINITY TV customers.

I am sorry but I do not have anymore information at this time. We are passing along all of your feedback to the appropriate team.

Once more information arises, I will update this thread.

Thanks,
Joe
XfinityTV.com/Xfinity.com Support
Twitter: @XfinityTVJoe

Found out yesterday that the Roku device i just purchased could not access HBO GO because i am a comcast customer .

Way to go Comcast , you don't even provide all the HBO shows with all the seasons on the Xfinity on demand menu with my Tivo Box , i can only get the last season and i am blocked from getting access to something i pay every month.

I don't want to watch Boarwalk empire on my phone or seating in front of my computer , i want to watch those series on my big screen TV .

IT's really unfortunate , because i just canceled my HBO subscription and eventually will cancell my comcast account to move to another provider that will show me more respect .

Ugh.  Now I'm returning my Roku box and reverting to using a laptop for HBO Go when using the treadmill.  

What could possibly be in it for Comcast to NOT PREVENT me from using their content or bandwidth, but to just make it much less handy?  

I know this is "1st world problems" and I should just be grateful to live in the land of opportunity, but Comcast is charging FIRST WORLD MONEY for the TERRIBLE service.  I have a right to be peeved.  

Calling 888 COMCAST about this, I first waited on hold several minutes and wsa hung up on.  Then I called back and waited to talk to someone who had absolutely no idea what she was talking about or what a Roku was, then I waited again for a knowledgeable guy who had absolutely no knowledge of the status of any Comcast/Roku/HBOGO relationship.  

This is a deliberate active choice by Comcast.  They should actively educate their service people to tell customes NO ROKU FOR YOU.  And Roku's web site should make plain the HBO GO does not work with Comcast.  Booo.  

I was ready to brag to everyone I know about how clever I was for getting a Roku.  Now I'm just going to rag about what a sucker I am to still use Comcast.  

Hey Comcast Joe,

It's obvious that Comcast doesn't want to make this happen and what is the company line on this? The next time someone tells us that your On Demand offers the same, I'll scream!!  The content on the HBO On Demand doesn't compare at all with what HBOGO provides in any way, plus the navigation is terrible.  We pay for HBO as a subscriber and should receive all the benefits that come with the monthly subscription as is the case with other Cable providers.  My only option now is to cancel my cable TV service and sign up with DISH in order to enjoy HBOGO on my TV using a Roku.  This disregard to your customers is totally unacceptable.  It would only take a few minutes of programming to allow the Roku to authorize as you already provide this to PC's and Smartphones.  I pay over $200 per month to Comcast and this is a slap in my face as a very long time customer.

This is about profit (for Comcast) nothing more... nothing less. With Comcast, you have to pay them for access for each individual room in your home. If you have a Roku, you don't need their equipment. They are not going to allow this to happen unless they can figure out a way to give access to HBO Go and make their customers pay. Trust me... they've had the ability to do so for years but until they find a way to charge us for it, there will be no HBO Go on Roku. I can't wait for Verizon FIOS availability in our area. When that happens, I will write the last check to Comcast and never, ever deal with them again.

And, as I learned when I contacted Comcast, they don't care! and have no plans for Roku.  Kind of stinks, doesn't it?

I was with Dish for a  long time, but made the move to Comcast to go to a single provider (was using Comcast for internet and basic cable for locals during storm weather).  I have been with Comcast as my sole provider for almost 6 weeks. Dish installer is coming next Tuesday to restore my Dish service, and Comcast gets all their receivers back.  The loss of HBOGo on Roku was only one of many features I lost when I left Dish--the ability to stream live television (using the Dish slingbox attached to receiver) and on demand to my iPhone or PC from anywhere, even using 3G. Comcast requires WiFi to watch on-demand on iphone, not sure why....I've been using my 3G mifi when on the road and connecting the phone to it...but that uses mifi bandwidth when I have unlimited data on the phone itself.  Dish's any room DVR is exactly that, you can not only view recorded programs, but pause, rewind, FF AND set recordings from any other television. I could not believe how sub-standard Comcast's technology is, and so am going back to Dish next week.

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@tw98056 wrote:

Hey Comcast Joe,

 

It's obvious that Comcast doesn't want to make this happen and what is the company line on this? The next time someone tells us that your On Demand offers the same, I'll scream!!  The content on the HBO On Demand doesn't compare at all with what HBOGO provides in any way, plus the navigation is terrible.  We pay for HBO as a subscriber and should receive all the benefits that come with the monthly subscription as is the case with other Cable providers.  My only option now is to cancel my cable TV service and sign up with DISH in order to enjoy HBOGO on my TV using a Roku.  This disregard to your customers is totally unacceptable.  It would only take a few minutes of programming to allow the Roku to authorize as you already provide this to PC's and Smartphones.  I pay over $200 per month to Comcast and this is a slap in my face as a very long time customer.

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@edpeters wrote:

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@bkyle7301 wrote:

Comcast should support ROKU!!

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Why not ask ROKU to support Comcast cabel and/or boxes?

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The issue is not with Roku, it is with Comcast. Roku has to be able to access Comcast authentication data to verify you have are an HBO subscriber, Comcast will not allow it.  It has nothing to do with the Comcast box or cable to your home, it has to do with Comcast's refusal to allow Roku to be able to authenticate users. I can't speak to Comcast's reasons, but know that they keep blowing smoke about it.

I was shocked when I found that the HBOGo I had enjoyed on Roku through my Dish account could not be continued with Comcast. I was seriously ticked when I was told by a tech and a few others that I should either purchase an xBox or just be content to just watch it on my pc--a pc that I use for other things while I am watching televsion, and one that our family should not have to huddle around while a much larger screen on the television goes idle. And actually, why should I not just use HBO on demand instead? After all, the content on HBOGo is not that much different than on demand...which of course, anyone who has actually looked at the HBOGo content knows is claptrap.

The only reason I subscribe to HBO at all is for the HBOGo programming....while the epic fail with Roku was not THE nail in the coffin with my short span with Comcast as my provider, it was certainly one of the prominent ones, and I go back to Dish this next Tuesday.

Hello,

Thank you for your email.  Comcast is currently not supporting HBO GO on Samsung Smart TV’s. We encourage you to reach out to Comcast XFINITY and request that they add support for HBOGO on Samsung Smart TV’s.

Thank you,

The HBO GO Team

From: 
Sent: Wednesday, December 05, 2012 1:57 PM
To: *Contact HBOGO (HBO)
Subject: activate a samsung device with comcast provider

I cannot enter the activation code for my Samsung tv because Comcast is not included as a  provider?  Please help

http://www.hbogo.com/activate/#affiliate_grid

Comcast only supports HBOGo on pc, iPhone, (I think) tablets i.e. Android, and xBox.

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@doug3507 wrote:

This is NOT a Comcast blocking issue. It is an authorization issue with HBO.  When you go to the HBO go activation site and select Xbox360 or Samsung TV comcast is there but not for Roku. I have Comcast for Internet but DirectTV for TV. If there were a Direct TV option under Roku I could get it because it would check my direct TV account to see that I am a valid HBO subscriber. It is just a validation that you are a subscriber not anything to do with the actual data (port) being authorized.

 

I can go on my comcast internet on my computer, go to HBO GO and tell it I am direct TV and it validates and works fine. HBO is the culprit. They do not have a selection for either Comcast or Direct TV for the Roku as your provider.

 

Not sure who to complain to on this but there are three choices - Comcast, HBO, or Roku. Very dissapointing that HBO go is not on the Roku with direct TV or Comcast.

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Your logic is flawed.  HBO Go does allow Comcast customers; we can get HBO Go on our computers, iphone, tablets, and with Comcast's "partner" Microsoft's xBox...where we cannot get it is Roku. The issue is the Roku activation, which Comcast (and apparently DirectTV) does not allow.  I've seen a variety of opinions as to why Comcast won't allow it, but the issue IS with Comcast. Roku is willing, Comcast says no.
I suspect the issue may well be some type of contractual agreement with xBox that prevents Roku participation (after all, Roku is cheaper than xBox and does much more) or as some have speculated, that it would be too convenient for some customers to simply not get that extra digital receiver, since the Roku would provide what the receiver does not. The bottom line is that Comcast is ignoring a fairly emphatic request from their customers for a service they should be able to get. I know it is one of a number of reasons that I am cutting my Comcast service and going back to Dish.