Go Ahead and Share that HBO Go Login, Really, They Want you To

I distinctly remember how annoyed users got when they could use MHL to connect their devices to their TVs and play HBO Go content. It took a little while, but they did realize how silly it was and opened up that functionality back in February 2013. What about sharing your login with friends and family though? Typically it is frowned upon in the industry. Netflix isn’t a huge fan of it, neither is HULU, that doesn’t mean that thousands of people aren’t doing it. On the HBO Go front, they actually want you to share it.

According to HBO CEO Richard Plepler, account sharing is a “terrific marketing vehicle for the next generation of viewers.”

“It presents the brand to more and more people and gives them an opportunity, hopefully, to become addicted to it,” adds the exec. “What we’re in the business of is building addicts, building video addicts, and the way we do that is exposing our product and our shows and our brand to more and more people.”

Personally I think Richard has the right idea. I know for the short time a friend of mine had HBO and gave me the login we watched quite a bit of movies and shows. When he had to leave out of the country and cancel his cable, the free ride was over. I have cut the cord on satellite and cable many years ago, so I won’t be picking up HBO anytime soon. Since I don’t see a separate subscription option in the app without having a package with a provider, I guess I am out of luck.

They are still watching of course, but sharing your login with friends and family isn’t hurting the bottom of the business. After all, the HBO Go app is pretty great, but you still don’t get everything HBO offers. Ultimately it introduces more people to the content and should help drive more subscriptions to the channel.

Source: AfterDawn