Apparently HBO Doesn't Want Cord-Cutters as Customers

Lots of people would like to pay HBO for online-only access to its programs, but at the moment the network apparently doesn't think that potential customer base is worth the trouble.

Lots of people would like to pay HBO for online-only access to its programs, but at the moment the network apparently doesn't think that potential customer base is worth the trouble.

As TechCrunch's  Ryan Lawler reported on Tuesday, fans would be willing to pay an average of about $12 each just for access to HBO Go, HBO's streaming service. But the network's not interest. The New York Times' Brian Stelter noticed a tweet from HBO on Wednesday, acknowledging the upstart campaign Take My Money, HBO!, which asks participants to tweet the amount of money they'd pay for Web-only access to Girls, Game of Thrones, and other HBO shows. Lawler had found a coder who figured out the average amount, based on the tweets people were sending. "For now, @RyanLawler @TechCrunch has it right," the network tweeted, with a link to Lawler's story.

In addition to finding the average amount fans would pay, Lawler posited that between the cost of new infrastructure to deliver more online content, and the new marketing machine HBO would have to build to promote it, the online-only model isn't worth it at the moment. And for now, HBO has confirmed he's on point.