[nobody3141]

I doubt that anybody 'doubled up' and now pays for both the DVD and streaming option. The reason for the DVD service to exist at all is to do with Hollywood accounting and the way the licenses are counted - the idiocy of this has been discussed here before.

The studios can't start their own streaming service simply because they do not have the branding they think they have. This isn't the 1950s, nobody thinks "I must sign up for MGM's service they have all the best action movies". HBO and BBC might manage to make separate pay-for services but are more likely to simply agree an extra cost deal with Netflix in the same way they sell an extra cost package to cable. Does HBO really want to get into the writing and supporting software player business?

Then the studios have a problem that they are in direct competition to their main customers - the cable companies that would be delivering these shows over IP. Can we say serious throttling?

Sooner or later somebody in Hollywood is going to manage to get the childproof top off their Lithium tablets and realize that iTunes hasn't quite destroyed the music industry.

[AJ007]

Have you used HBO Go? It works. Its awesome. You can watch almost every HBO show, every episode from every season along with the newest episodes when they air. The catch, you have to have a subscription to a supported cable provider. Thus I no longer have it.

I think HBO has a very realistic shot of hitting it out of the ballpark. They have already proven they are capable of doing it. In a few years I expect most people will just subscribe directly to HBO.

As for Dreamworks, 20th Century Fox, MGM, Paramount, and every other movie studio having their own service, the economics won't work. They will make more per subscriber than they would from an aggregater deal, but they will have less subscribers.

A few other providers might be able to do what HBO can do. Niche providers, like Crunchyroll, will likely do very well.

I expect all of the movie & cable players will make moves on their subscription services. A handful will do a really good job and make out well, the rest will get to sell their libraries to Netflix, Amazon, and may be Google, and return back to what they do best.

[zacs]

Isn't HBO already in the "writing and supporting software player" business with its HBO Go apps? It's already circumventing business like Netflix today.

[dailyrorschach]

Kinda. In order to get HBO Go you need to be a subscriber, through your cable company. And not ever cable network is providing access to HBO Go, though I hear Time Warner Cable, is close to doing so.

[tsotha]

HBO is also coming to Roku as a separate pay channel.

[brown9-2]

I lowered my DVD plan to keep the streaming option (or make it more affordable).

[nknight]

> I doubt that anybody 'doubled up' and now pays for both the DVD and streaming option.

I did/do.

[ScottBurson]

Me too. As the WSJ column says, the streaming catalog just isn't adequate yet. I tried it for a few weeks, but then gave in. But I mostly hang out on the long tail; almost nothing I wanted to watch was available for streaming. My wife, on the other hand, streams a lot.

[nooneelse]

Me three. Much the same reasons.