HBO Asia has launched its broadband streaming service HBO GO in the Philippines, exclusively on SKY Cable.
The Philippines is the second territory in Asia to be offered the service, following its release in Hong Kong last year.
The service allows users access to over 1,000 hours of uncut content from HBO and Cinemax on multiple devices, including smartphones, computers, and tablets.
Subscribers will also be able to watch HBO and Cinemax original series 12 hours after the US premiere, before they air in the Philippines.
“This helps combat piracy and gives subscribers an opportunity to catch the newest episodes of their favorite HBO shows earlier,” HBO Asia CEO Jonathan Spink said.
At the media launch of HBO GO on March 10, Spink explained that piraxy puts the business under pressure.
“The thing that people forget is, content is very expensive to make, and as much as you’d like everybody to get access to it, you can’t. I mean, there’s a very huge cost of making shows like Game of Thrones and things like that, then somebody puts it up on the internet, you know it puts pressure on the economics of the business and I think, as I said, it’s not just us that suffers,” he said.
“The more places we launch services like this, the better,” he added.
Meanwhile, SKY Cable CEO and president Carlo Katigbak said that they predict the service will be “the new wave of watching movies and entertainment content.”
“The Philippines is only the second country in Asia to carry HBO GO. HBO’s decision to launch it here indicates the great potential in our country, and their utmost trust in SKY,” he said.
The HBO GO service is free for SKY Cable subscribers of the HBO PAK., while subscribers of the basic HBO channel xan subscribr to HBO GO for P199/month. The HBO GO App can be downloaded for free from the App Store or Google Play Store.
