ROKU, HBO GO

I have a roku hooked up to my tv,I also have HBO w/comcast.Why won't comcast allow me to watch HBOGO on my roku?

I just wrote to Matt Strauss.  I will post the response.  Here is my message below:

I am a Comcast subscriber with HBO in my plan. I want to access HBO Go on my Roku device. You have responded to two different people with the exact same answer below:

"Every day we're working to make XfinityTV programming available to our customers in more ways including the Xbox, connected TVs, on websites like XfinityTV and HBOGo, on tablets and other devices. Today, all HBO content is available on XfinityTV.com and through the XfinityTV app. We will continue to work with our partners to deliver even more choices to our customers in more places. We do have have an ETA on Roku at this time."

Please not that the sentence that states " all HBO content is available on XfinityTV.com and through the XfinityTV app" is not true. The HBO Go site has complete collection of series all the way back to series 1 episode 1. XfinityTV.com and the XfinityTV app does not.

Comcast and DirectTV are the only major cable companies that will not validate HBO Go with a Roku device.

Rather than a generic answer, can you please tell us (your customers) what the problem is?

Thank you.

I think that Strauss is (almost) correct if you look at the Xfinity TV website on your computer or if you look at the Xfinity TV app ("Play Now" on your iPad or iPhone.  There is a lot more content there than there is in the "On Demand" section on your television. 

Unfortunately, for people (like me) who would like to watch HBO content on their televisions, the content is much more limited (no episodes of all current and past series and a much smaller selection of movies).  I, for one, don't like watching any TV on a screen that is 3" by 6" inches.  Also, I was trying to watch "The Newsroom" last night on my computer (17" screen but still too small for more than 2 people to watch at the same time) and the program kept freezing on  me.

I don't think Strauss or anyone else at Comcast distinguishes between the content on demand and HBO Go.  You will notice that Strauss keeps referring to Xfinity TV.  I really don't care about Comcast streaming content to computers or iPods.  I want to see HBO GO on my TV through my Roku.  There is no technical problem here, because you can go to the HBO GO app on your TV through Roku and access the free content.  I think that Comcast is either terrified that HBO GO will at some point become a site open to anyone who wants to pay for it, and Comcast will lose the revenue; or HBO GO will be an app on Comcast's new cable boxes that they are starting to role out to their "Triple Play" customers in Boston and Philadelphia and which will eventually replace all existing cable boxes (at a higher monthly fee that we are currently paying, according to a Comcast technician I talked to recently). 

I don't know why you can get HBO GO on an Xbox 360 and not on a Roku, other than the fact that Comcast has some sort of partnership with Microsoft.  (I don't think it has anything to do with the complaint by the President of Netflix.)  And I don't want to particularly pay for an Xbox 360 and a monthly subscription fee so that I can watch HBO GO.  I view HBO GO as part of my HBO subscription, although clearly Comcast doesn't.

About six months ago I posted that, based on a conversation I had with someone at Comcast's HQ, they had no present intent to activate HBO GO on Rokus.  Having seen what is on HBO GO, I don't know that is worth paying $15/month for HBO without HBO GO.  However friendly their technicians and customer care people are, they are certainly not customer-friendly when it comes to making third-party content available outside of the Xfinity box. 

Response from my email to Mr. Strauss:

Good afternoon Barry,

There is no ETA on HBO Go on Roku at this time.

Thank you,

Elisa 

THEY ARE RIDICULOUS!

Your gonna have to get Engadget  or someone like that to do a story on who is supporting it and who isnt supporting it and why. Bad national press will be the only motivator other then the bottom line. If investors get angry enough is the only way to get anything done..

You should post that publicly on Google+ and Facebook.  THAT ought to increase the number of tweets he gets.

http://upstart.bizjournals.com/money/loot/2012/07/26/news-corp-roku-vs-comcast-boxee.html?page=all

In order to get HBOGO on my ROKU, I'm thinking my only choice is to leave Comcast and go to another provider.

I have just terminated my Comcast service and signed up with Dishnetwork.  I am excited about getting Dish's Hopper (whole house DVR, 2 TB of storage and 3 builtin tuners) and most importantly HBOGO on Roku!  Dishnetwork's technology is light years ahead of Comcast's.  I had Comcast triple play and am cancelling the phone and TV and keeping their internet service only.  Unfortunately there are still no competitions for internet service provider in my area.  For phone, I am now using OBI 100 voice over IP adapter (free phone calls for life and the quality is as good as land line, available on Amazon).  I am now actually saving $40/ month by making the switch.   

Good luck to everyone still waiting for HBOGO on Roku using Comcast.   

When will Comcast support HBO GO using a Roku? AT&T and Dish now support HBO GO using a Roku. Why not Comcast? I feel that I am not getting the full value of my HBO subscription with Comcast.

When will Comcast allow HBO GO using the Roku? AT&T Uverse and Dish offer it. I would like the full value of my HBO subscription, please. Thanks.

I've been trying to figure out how to get HBO GO on my Roku. Since I have an HBO subscription, I can get it on my iPad but not on my Roku. Now I see there are a whole bunch of folks who are complaining about this issue. 

XFINITY--Please support the Roku device! Why would not not do that? We already pay for HBO--let us have the Roku access!

I was planning to buy a Roku box today, just for HBO Go access.  That is, until I saw this thread.  Bummer!

well this is post #637. has anybody gotten any further than the first one ? I have the xfinity on demand. I have HBO, Starz and Encore for pay channels. We usually watch the  movies on xfinity on demand, due to the fact that we do not feel like waiting until 4am to watch a movie we like. both Starz and Encore have about 70 movies to chose from. HBO on demand through Xfinity has 15 !!!!! So you cant get HBO go through them with all of its content. But you can get a whopping 15 movies from their on demand service. real p-ss poor service comcast !!!