ROKU, HBO GO

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@ATCDAV wrote:

Imagine if comcast teamed up with roku and apple and those devices had the xfinity app and hbogo and other apps u only get thru your subscriber. Comcast would make so much money with zero development cost and they would own almost all the market. They think corroding their customers to rent additional boxes at $10 or more per month is the best business model for them.

Enjoy your comcast.

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TW has teamed with Roku for streaming their entire service. Although currently you have to be in their service area to get the service, I'm betting that within a few years, if the model works for them, anyone with a Roku would be able to subscribe to their cable service.  Comcast needs to pay attention.

This is what I have been waiting for. I think Comcast is run by idiots. I have said before, they could offer their xfinity app service with HBOGO as a stand alone streaming service and pretty much shut down the competition. They are not smart enough to do that, they are bent on equipment which means they have to pay people to install it and maintain it. Good for TW. , I bet FIOS and Uverse are close behind

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@C_DM wrote:

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@puregenius wrote:

The Xbox 360 does not have access. It is just like the Roku. When you attempt to activate you will not find Comcast in the list of providers so you can not authenticate. They have chosen not to allow HBO Go viewing on big screens unless you are willing to connect your PC to your TV

 

I sent an email to corporate, which generated a call from the local escalations department. The lady was nice but completely clueless about the situation. They decided to push the issue and have a tech support supervisor call me like that would be helpful. At first the guy tried to convince me that it would work on the Roku and 360 until I made it very clear I knew exactly what was talking about. Then I got the same line that another poster heard two years ago. It was all very insulting. I am seriously considering a provider switch.

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Pretty sure it's been supported on the Xbox since about a year ago: http://www.theverge.com/2012/4/9/2937174/hbo-go-app-xbox-360-comcast-xfinity-availability

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You are correct. When looking at the activation section I was looking for Comcast and not Xfinity. Thanks for the correction.

Why won't comcast support hbogo on the Roku??  All of my other area providers do.  I'm thinking about switching providers just because of this, we watch HBO all the time.

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@Cshspa wrote:
That's not quite true. Comcast had no objection to their customers accessing hbo go via Xbox or Apple TV. Seems pretty clear its a roku specific policy and thereby discrimination.

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Or they simply haven't worked out an agreement with Roku (yet), for whatever reason.

Actually, only the XBox is "officially" sanctioned by Comcast.  They can't do anything about Apple TV, PlayOn or the Asus cube because those devices simply send a mirror image of what is on your computer to your TV. 

Roku and Comcast don't have to agree to anything.  Comcast just has to permit Roku to authenticate HBO subscriptions to access HBO GO.  It's that simple.  However, Comcast has said on numerous occasions that it does not plan to offer HBO GO on Rokus.  I suspect that Comcast gets paid some amount from Microsoft for each customer who uses HBO GO on the XBox (and Microsoft charges a fee for using the XBox to access HBO GO).  Every other cable company offers it free.  I don't think any money is changing hands.  Roku makes its money selling Rokus.  The cable company offers HBO Go to HBO subscribers as part of their HBO subscription.  Unlike Comcast, they are not nickle and diming their customers to death.

Incidentally, Dish (which offers HBO GO to its customers and also has everything that is on HBO GO on demand as well) has come out with a new DVR that permits customers to download programs to iPads for later watching without being connected to the internet when you watch your program.

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@Wellesley72 wrote:

Actually, only the XBox is "officially" sanctioned by Comcast.  They can't do anything about Apple TV, PlayOn or the Asus cube because those devices simply send a mirror image of what is on your computer to your TV. 

 

Roku and Comcast don't have to agree to anything.  Comcast just has to permit Roku to authenticate HBO subscriptions to access HBO GO.  It's that simple.  However, Comcast has said on numerous occasions that it does not plan to offer HBO GO on Rokus.  I suspect that Comcast gets paid some amount from Microsoft for each customer who uses HBO GO on the XBox (and Microsoft charges a fee for using the XBox to access HBO GO).  Every other cable company offers it free.  I don't think any money is changing hands.  Roku makes its money selling Rokus.  The cable company offers HBO Go to HBO subscribers as part of their HBO subscription.  Unlike Comcast, they are not nickle and diming their customers to death.

 

Incidentally, Dish (which offers HBO GO to its customers and also has everything that is on HBO GO on demand as well) has come out with a new DVR that permits customers to download programs to iPads for later watching without being connected to the internet when you watch your program.

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Technically DISH and Slingbox are part of the same company which allowed them to essentially stick Slingbox technology into their box, which allows for live TV, DVR, and On Demand viewing remotely.  It's a great feature, but was something they were able to get mainly by buying a company that pretty much already had it developed.

In any case, this isn't really about that.  There are most definitely partner/content agreements in place when it comes to all of these things on any platforms.  Some might not think so, but they are definitely there.  For business reasons, technical reasons, or who knows what other reasons, not everything is the same everywhere for everyone.  That's not to say it's a good thing, but that's also not to say that it's some sort of a conspiracy necessarily.

It could be some simple thing where some agreements aren't worked out (yet) for one reason or another, or somethign else of that sort.  Or, it could very well be a business decision of one sort or another, but even then realistically every company is free to decide their own business partnerships.

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@C_DM wrote:

In any case, this isn't really about that.  There are most definitely partner/content agreements in place when it comes to all of these things on any platforms.  Some might not think so, but they are definitely there.  For business reasons, technical reasons, or who knows what other reasons, not everything is the same everywhere for everyone.  That's not to say it's a good thing, but that's also not to say that it's some sort of a conspiracy necessarily.

 

It could be some simple thing where some agreements aren't worked out (yet) for one reason or another, or somethign else of that sort.  Or, it could very well be a business decision of one sort or another, but even then realistically every company is free to decide their own business partnerships.

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No, not a conspiracy, but a deliberate decision by Comcast to not allow their subscribers to use HBOgo on Roku - we can only surmise the reason, but knowing Xfinity, it either has something to do with controlling the user environment--there would be some who would bypass a digital box on some sets and use Roku instead, although those folks will do it anyway, just without the HBOgo--or a monetary thing where a deal has been cut with their "partner" Microsoft to restrict it to Xbox. Obviously, they have a method to allow HBOgo to authenticate, the Xbox does. 

I think it is a control thing that has something to do with their future development plans. Shortly after I dropped them and moved back to Dish, I was asked to participate in a survey by them that had to do with how much would I be willing to pay for a cloud based DVR / on Demand service. I think they want to move to the cloud-which given the unreliability of their internet where I live...

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@Wellesley72 wrote:

Incidentally, Dish (which offers HBO GO to its customers and also has everything that is on HBO GO on demand as well) has come out with a new DVR that permits customers to download programs to iPads for later watching without being connected to the internet when you watch your program.

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And I am so waiting for them to make that available on Android tablets.

Comcast...no support for HBO GO on Roku?  I can't wait to switch to verizon!!!

I just switched my tv to Dish (kept internet on Comcast). I feel like Dorothy when she walked out of her black and white house into Oz - the Dish menu is of this century! Even when my intro offer is up, the combo of Dish with all channels plus Comcast internet is still cheaper than the bundle I had with Comcast as an 'old' customer, even when I dropped the phone and had one DVR. Now I have 2 and can record 3 things at once plus all primetime shows (not stored on my harddrive) and can skip commercials automatically in many shows. I love Dish and wish I switched as soon as my contract with Kabletown expired! HBO GO on Roku? Yeah! Installation fees? Nope! First 3 mos with everything - $65 per month - after if I keep everything (all premium channels - $145) - this is still less plus Comcast internet than I was paying for the Comcast bundle (minus TMC) - $217. I am so happy to have an interface that seems worth th $. Escape Dorothy!

After talking to DISH,  I was all set to change.  The DISH installation technician came and couldn't get the satellite to get a signal through all the trees surrounding my house.   The deal was so good, I momentarily thought about knocking down a few trees [my wife vetoed that idea!].  Looks like I'm stuck with Comcast.