DirecTV Could Punish HBO if Streaming-Only Service Becomes Too Popular

HBO is a lucrative pay-channel for US satellite and cable TV broadcasters, like satellite service DirecTV. But back in October, HBO announced that it is to offer HBO Go programming in a streaming-only bundle, on top of its TV subscription model. Now “people familiar with the matter” claim that should HBO’s streaming-only service become too popular, that DirecTV can take punitive measures against HBO.

Their contract supposedly states that if HBO “signs up more than 450,000 subscribers nationally for the ‘over-the-top’ online service, or 300,000 in any given local market,” DirecTV can pull its marketing for the service, or even start selling the streaming bundle through their own billing department.

In an e-mail to Ars Technica, DirecTV said, “we don’t comment on programming contracts or speculative stories.”

Source: Ars Technica