HBO replaces its cable television option in Spain with a new streaming service

HBO replaces its cable television option in Spain with a new streaming service ,

HBO has a bold plan to cut the cord the only way to watch shows like Game of Thrones in some parts of the world. The company announced today that it will launch its first streaming service in Spain by the end of the year and to eliminate its pay TV option entirely, according to a report of Bloomberg . When current license covers the cable TV operators end, the new Internet service will be the only way to access HBO in Spain.

The initiative is an ambitious game, but it makes sense. Spain subscribers of cable lower rates than the US and a large amount of online piracy. HBO then sacrifices his license revenues to appeal to homes that either have abandoned cable or never bought in the first place. "We follow the money," said chief executive Richard Plepler HBO Bloomberg . "We make a determination on where we think the greatest benefits lie." The company has 138 million subscribers, of which two thirds are located outside the US, where broadband rates are not much higher than the US, according to Parks Associates research firm.

HBO cuts the cord to Spain to take on Netflix

The Time Warner-owned network has taken similar measures in the past. The streaming service of US society, HBO Now, launched in April of last year, although customers in the United States were able to access a subscriber only web service, HBO Go, since 2010. He also launched a streaming service in Norway, Denmark, Finland and Sweden in 2012 called HBO Nordic, which has about 650,000 subscribers and offers AMC entertainment, Starz and Showtime also. HBO now has a similar service in Colombia that he hopes to expand to other Latin American countries.

Apart from these services, HBO has just made its content available outside the cable television subscriptions as paid downloads on platforms as iTunes and streaming some shows on Amazon Prime Video. "Spain is not the first and Spain is not the last," Simon Sutton, president of HBO International and content distribution, said Bloomberg. The company would not say where else it is planning a streaming service.

HBO owns the rights to most of his shows

HBO is very competitive with Netflix internationally. Earlier this month, Netflix launched in 130 new countries, including Russia and India, and has been available in Spain since last October with a promotional agreement related to the telecommunications giant Vodafone. Yet unlike Netflix, which is unable to broadcast certain programs like House of Cards in every country of the service is available, HBO does own the rights to the majority of its programming. The company did not disclose Bloomberg how the new service will cost or Spain that shows he has, but Plepler confirmed it would be much like the HBO Nordic fully featured.