HBO’s Amazon Deal Without ‘Thrones’ Shows Cable Loyalty

HBO, as it finally opens up some of its prized programming to online-only viewers, is still being careful to preserve the traditional TV business model.

HBO agreed to let Amazon offer some of its older shows to the e-commerce company’s Prime subscribers starting in late May, the first time the Time Warner-owned network has made its content available to anyone outside of the pay-TV universe. While that may appear to be a crack in the pay-TV business, HBO took care to save its most popular shows and current seasons for customers who get a TV bill. For anyone wanting to watch current hits such as “Game of Thrones,” they’ll need to buy a cable or satellite-TV subscription. And HBO Go, the company’s online streaming service, also will still only be available to those with a pay-TV subscription. Time Warner “is set to benefit from the licensing fees with very little or no risk of cannibalization to its existing authenticated HBO Go offering,” said Anthony DiClemente, an analyst at Nomura Holdings.