HBO Inks Exclusive Licensing Deal With Amazon Prime
HBO just became a little less exclusive: The network has finalized a licensing deal with Amazon Prime’s Instant Video streaming service, bringing over classic series like The Sopranos, Deadwood, Six Feet Under and The Wire to their new streaming home base. The first batch of content will hit Amazon Prime on May 21st.
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The deal also includes movies and miniseries like John Adams, Angels in America and Band of Brothers, along with early seasons of shows like Boardwalk Empire and True Blood. However, earlier seasons of recent series like Girls, Veep and The Newsroom won’t be available on the VOD service until approximately three years after they air on HBO. This deal marks the first effort from the network to expand its programming beyond the confines of its own on-demand services, including the ever-popular HBO GO.
“As owners of our original programming, we have always sought to capitalize on that investment,” says HBO executive Glenn Whitehead in a press release statement. “Given our longstanding relationship with Amazon, we couldn’t think of a better partner to entrust with this valuable collection.”
“HBO original content is some of the most popular across Amazon Instant Video — our customers love watching these shows,” added Amazon’s Director of Content Acquisition Brad Beale. “Now Prime members can enjoy a collection of great HBO shows on an unlimited basis, at no additional cost to their Prime membership.”
All programming involved in the Amazon deal with remain on HBO’s various platforms, including HBO Go. That service will also become accessible on Amazon Fire TV, possibly before the end of 2014.