HBO CEO Richard Plepler took to the stage at the Apple Watch event Monday to officially announce the launch of HBO Now, which will debut April in time for the fifth season premiere of Game of Thrones. Apple will be the official launch partner of HBO Now, meaning that the service will initially only be available on Apple TV, as well as on mobile iOS devices and PCs. HBO Now will cost consumers $14.99, with the first month being free for consumers who sign up through Apple in April.
Plepler didn’t go into all of the details on HBO Now, but a press release sent out by Time Warner filled in some of the blanks: HBO Now will offer access to “every episode of every season” of HBO’s shows, as well as Hollywood movies and original HBO films. At launch, the catalog will have more than 2,000 titles. Access will be on demand, and there is no mention of a live feed. Here’s a promo video for the new service:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQEhY_MJk9M]
The HBO Now website is already up, albeit with a very limited placeholder: Order.HBONow.com just lets you sign up for news about the service.
Coinciding with the launch of HBO Now, Apple is also lowering the price of its Apple TV set-top box, which will now only cost $69, compared to $99 before. However, other than the price break, it doesn’t look as if Apple TV is receiving any substantial update.
