The HBO Go app finally launched on PS4 earlier this week. The arrival of the streaming movie and TV service is great news unless you're a Comcast subscriber.
Comcast users are unable to access HBO Go for PS4. It's not just because the PS4 version of the app is brand-new. HBO Go on PS3 is likewise inaccessible if you're a Comcast subscriber even a year after its launch.
Why does Comcast prevent PlayStation owners from watching HBO Go through their consoles? One subscriber was told by customer support that HBO Go is still "under evaluation" by the company. A statement by Comcast (via TechDirt) more or less confirms that:
HBO Go availability on PS3 (and other devices) are business decisions and deal with business terms that have not yet been agreed to between the parties.
This explanation - "sorry, our businessmen gotta call their businessmen and conduct the business first" - makes it sound like it's as much HBO's (or Sony's) fault as Comcast's. However, dozens of smaller cable companies and universities are already supporting PS4 at launch:
Cable Companies
- Advanced Cable
- Antietam
- Armstrong
- Astound
- AT&T U-verse TV
- Atlantic Broadband
- ATMC
- BendBroadband
- Blue Ridge Communications
- Bright House Networks
- Buckeye CableSystem
- Burlington Telecom
- BVU OptiNet
- Cable ONE
- Canby Telcom
- Cedar Falls Utilities
- CenturyLink Prism
- Charter
- Cincinnati Bell Fioptics
- Clear Creek Communications
- Comporium
- Consolidated Communications
- Conway Corporation
- Cox
- DIRECTV
- DIRECTV PUERTO RICO
- DISH
- DOCOMO PACIFIC
- Easton Cable Velocity
- EATEL Video, LLC
- ENTOUCH
- EPB Fiber Optics
- Frankfort Plant Board
- Frontier Communications
- GCI
- Google Fiber
- Grande Communications
- Greenlight
- GTA
- GVTC Communications
- Hawaiian Telcom
- HBC
- Home Telecom
- Home Town Cable Plus
- HOOD Canal Communications
- Hotwire Communications
- HTC Communications
- HTC Digital Cable
- JEA
- Liberty Puerto Rico
- Long Lines
- LUS Fiber
- MCTV
- Mediacom
- MetroCast
- Metronet
- MI-Connection
- Midcontinent Communications
- MIDHUDSON
- Morris Broadband
- MTA Communications, LLC
- Nex-Tech
- North State
- NORWOOD
- OpenBand Multimedia
- Optimum
- Rainier Connect
- RCN
- SELCO
- Service Electric Broadband
- Service Electric Cable TV
- Service Electric Cablevision
- South Slope Coop Comm
- Suddenlink
- Summit Broadband
- SureWest Broadband
- TDS
- Time Warner Cable
- TRUVISTA
- Verizon FiOS
- Volcano Vision, Inc.
- Wave Broadband
- WOW!
- wTVE
- Yadtel Telecom
Universities
- Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
- Cal State Monterey Bay
- Concordia Univ. Chicago
- Fitchburg State University
- Florida International Univ
- Harvard University
- Loyola Marymount University
- New York University
- Shippensburg University
- Stony Brook University
- The University at Buffalo
- UNC Charlotte
- Univ of Colorado Boulder
- Univ of South Florida
- University of Alabama
- University of Washington
- University of Wyoming
TechDirt notes that Comcast has a history of dragging their feet with HBO Go. For years, they didn't allow Comcast subscribers to use the app with Roku. Amazon Fire TV is likewise unsupported. It's a bit silly, considering Comcast is the largest cable company in the United States by a long shot and plans to buy the second-largest soon. They have the resources to make this happen if they want to.
Whatever the reason for Comcast's inconsistent support of HBO Go, it's a crappy situation for PS4 and PS3 owners. I wouldn't be surprised if their frustration helps Comcast win Worst Company in America voting for the second year in a row.
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