ROKU, HBO GO

Funny thing is if Direct Tv were to announce they would allow for HBO Go access on Roku I would jump on the chance to switch.  AT&T U-Verse is still not availbale in my area.

Please bring HBO GO to ROKU, every other provider in our area offers this streaming except comcast.

It is very frustrating not to be able to use the HBO Go service on netflix when I am paying Xfinity to get HBO and other cable providers make it available.  Any plans to change this, or is this just another cost of having comcast as my provider?

everyone needs to send Comcast and email and call.   We have to let them know we want it.

Correction:  "not to be able to access HBOGo on ROKU (not netflix!)

Hey Everyone,

Got a chance to finally see HBO work on a Ruku last night as a friend of mine has Dish and it's awesome.  Excellent picture quality and the menus are just like all the other Roku channels. I was surprised to see tons of non HBO movies available as I thought it would only be HBO movies?  This service is so much better then Comcast offers for HBO On demand which is a good reason why they don't want us to have this on a connected to TV device.  The fact that I pay for HBO through Comcast and have been for so many years is a slap in our faces, they still make all the revenues from our HBO subscriptions and they don't make any additional from their HBO on-demand which makes no sense here!  I can get this on my Motorola Droid and PC desktop using my Xfinity login so what's the deal?  Guess it's the fact that my Roku is hooked up to my TV which is what bugs them?  Dish really lacks HD content and services such as any room DVR.  If DirecTV was on this, I'd make the switch today!

I sent an e-mail to Sam Schwartz, who is head of platform programming (or something like that) asking when we might expect Comcast to offer HBO GO on Roku and received an e-mail back from one of his minions stating "We are working with partners to make TV programming available to customers in more ways: Xbox, tables and websites like Xfinity TV and HBO Go".  Notice the e-mail did not say Roku.  I am wondering if Comcast wants money from Roku to let them show the channel.  (Incidentally, you can watch certain previews and other items for free if you go to HBO GO on Roku and click on the "Browse" button, so the technology is in place.)

Quite frankly, I think not offering HBO GO on Roku is extremely short-sighted of Comcast.  Not quite as bad a blunder as the Netflix increase but bad enough that I am willing to switch to Verizon FIOS (Comcast's main competitor in the internet/cable TV/telephone business in the Boston area).

If you Google Roku Sam Schwartz HBO GO you will be taken to a web site where you can e-mail Schwartz. Comcast won't allow me to reference the web site on my post, so let me see if I can show it in two parts:  the first part is city_desk@ followed by comcast.com (no spaces between the first part and the last).

If you are writing to Comcast, I suggest sending your e-mails to city_desk@cable.comcast.com.  I think that actual decision-makers (as opposed to customer care reps) read e-mails at this address.

With HBO on Comcast on demand, you are at the mercy of what Comcast chooses to provide. With HBOGO you have the entire HBO library at your fingertips.

I see no reason why Comcast should not offer this service that is available to HBO subscribers. Without this we are not getting the full value for our subscription.

I e-mailed Comcast and received the same response that Comcast Joe gave: " We are working with partners to make TV programming available to customers in more ways:  Xbox, tablets and web sites like Xfinity TV and HBO Go."  Please notice that Comcast doesn't say they are working to provide HBO GO on Roku. 

I think not allowing HBO to be shown on Roku is a big mistake, particularly where every other cable provider that allows you to access HBO GO on your iPhone, iPad or Android device also allows you to see HBO GO on Roku.  Is Comcast having a "Netflix moment"? 

If you go to HBO GO and click on "Browse", you can watch previews of some shows so the technology is there. Whether or not you have a DVR shouldn't matter since HBO subscribers can access all current content by simply clicking on HBO on Demand.  However, HBO on Demand doesn't have every episode of every series ever shown on HBO and dozens of movies that don't show up currently on HBO.  It makes absolutely no sense that an iPad owner can get access to HBO GO through Comcast but not a Roku owner.  Are Apple and Google giving kickbacks to Comcast to allow HBO Go content on their devices?

If Comcast doesn't get their act together, I intend to switch to Verizon FIOS.  Losing long-standing customers may be the only way to get Comcast's attention.

Did you forward that email on to the HBO address they provided?  Curious what their response would be.....

Well, well, my first post has been deleted. OK, posting their second response again, but removing the name of the Comcast emailer!! 

"In reference to you previous e-mail regarding HBOGo our marketing and development team contacted me and advised that:

I hope this resolves this issue to your satisfaction. If there is anything else we can help you with, please do not hesitate to contact us at."

No response yet. But I responded to Comcast and also sent a copy to Sam Schwartz mentioned above. This is my response to their inane email:

"The response below is completely unacceptable. Your company needs to get their act together or you'll lose subscribers in droves just like Netflix. 

In response to various e-mails that I have sent to Comcast, I just received a telephone call from someone at Comcast's northeast regional corporate office.  (I live in the Boston suburbs.).  This person stated that Comcast has no intention of supporting HBO GO on Roku.  She said that Comcast will be rolling out new video products over the coming year, although she didn't say what products,  whether they would be free or not and whether they would be available on Roku.

The person I spoke with said that I was the first person she had heard of to have complained on a corporate level about the inability to access HBO GO on Roku.  I told her that I was not really a "trailblazer" and that it might be worth her while to read the support forums once in a while to see how upset Roku owners are.  She said the corporate people clearly don't get any feedback from customer service.  (Does this sound like Netflix?)

The person I spoke with said that there are other providers that don't offer access to HBO GO.  I reminded her that Comcast was the only cable system that offered HBO GO to its customers via iPhone, iPad and Android that did not offer it on Roku. The person also had no answer as to why customers with mobile devices can access HBO GO but those with Roku cannot.

For those of you in the Northeast (that includes New England; I don't know what other states it covers), you can phone in a complaint to the regional corporate office at 888-309-2583.  If you are outside of New England, I expect you can  call the northeast regional corporate office and get the telephone number for your own region.  It is essential that Comcast corporate honchos know there is a large group of Roku owners who are disgruntled with Comcast's unwillingness to offer HBO GO on Roku.

Unless Comcast comes up with something as good as HBO GO within the next six months, I plan to leave for Verizon FIOS.

If this is true and they do not have any intention of opening up HBOGO on Roku devices, this is the kind of decision that causes Comcast to have the customer reputation that they currently have...

Since posting on this site, I have been receiving daily email notifications from comcast "helpfully" drawing my attention to other forum members' recent negative comments on the HBOGO-Roku issue, which ironically just reinforces my sense that Comcast's "attention" to the feedback that they get is purely superficial.  All they are lacking is "hope this helps" added to their notification to complete the farce.