HBO finally being offered as a standalone product... in Scandinavia

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HBO finally being offered as a standalone product… in Scandinavia

For ever and ever, people have wanted the ability to buy channels a la carte, and in Scandinavia, people are going to finally have that choice when it comes to HBO. When HBO launches in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland later this year, customers will be able to buy just HBO without a larger cable package.

Unveiled in a press conference Thursday in Stockholm, HBO Nordic AB will launch in mid-October. The pay-TV network disclosed its plans earlier this month to move into Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark via a joint venture with Parsifal Intl. The announcement came less than 24 hours after rival service Netflix made its own plans in the country known, though the streaming service has specified only that its launch will be before year-end.

In addition to the standalone launch of HBONordic.com, HBO Nordic AB will be available for less than 10 euros per month or as an add-on to basic pay-TV subscriptions in the region. Netflix has yet to reveal its pricing in the four countries.

An HBO spokesman made clear that this launch does not reflect a strategic change for the company in any of its current markets. “Each market is unique and HBO approaches each one with what we consider to believe the best business model specific to that territory.”

It would be fantastic one day, if you could just buy channels like you currently choose apps for your phone or computer without being tied to a larger cable package, where you’re stuck paying for 400 channels you never watch. I imagine some channels could make quite a bit more from an a la carte model, but of course cable companies would be up shit creek.

Via