Netflix vs HBO: 'House of Cards' Home & 'Game Of Thrones' Network Go To War For Streaming Content; Who Will Win? [VIDEO]
It truly is a convenience now. Sit at home, sip on a drink, and put on a few episodes of Gilmore Girls or Breaking Bad as you forget to do anything else all day. But now, this could also include the "premium" content that HBO provides and make you choose between the two. Is the future of streaming going to be a war between these two sites or could it become an even bigger fight to hold your attention?
5 Reasons Why The New HBO Deal Is Great For Fans
This comes on the heel of the news earlier this week that HBO would be offering their a streaming service to customers even if they didn't have a cable provider with the channel. A hurdle that most people had to go over is now lifted and the company can now go head to head with the service that caused this friction: Netflix.
Netflix has become a sort of cultural icon for the past few years as its accessibility to hit television shows, both classics and their own popular original content like House of Cards, has made the application something that has found itself in a lot of American and international homes.
The Cast of 'Friends' is Reuniting, But It's Not What You Think
But will they be affected by this HBO deal or the corresponding deals such as CBS's streaming service? Maybe, but they also seem ready.
While HBO is gunning for some of that viewership that Netflix has, the service also knows that they have to evolve into more and that sheds light on the recent news that Netflix would produce a sequel to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and the next few Adam Sandler movies. They are now moving to feature films to fight the other services.
This is a move that comes on the heels of everyone getting closer to them with television. Amazon has found a bonafide hit with Transparent, HBO has always had high-quality television, Hulu Plus contains some of the more popular current shows like Modern Family, and now CBS is offering a streaming service for their shows like The Big Bang Theory in hopes that their viewers will drive this content to another field.
Netflix realizes this and is taking the next step. While having to compete with the might of HBO shows like Game of Thrones and True Detective will be difficult, it can still fight and their new slate of original shows back that up. Where they can fight is in the original movies, which HBO does also but isn't completely dominating in.
The war is just beginning between these two services, and how the streaming landscape will look in five years is anyone's guess. But it will most likely have these two at the top of the pile looking for yet another way to innovate their services.