NBCU CEO 'Surprised' HBO, CBS Giving Users What They Want Speaking on Comcast's earnings conference call this week, Comcast NBCUniversal CEO Stephen Burke stated that he was "surprised" by HBO and CBS recently announcing they would provide what customers wanted and make it easier to acquire their content online. HBO's announcement for a 2015 streaming service came after years of consumer clamoring for a service that didn't require a traditional cable TV subscription.

"I was surprised by both of them for different reasons," stated Burke. "CBS I was surprised because they have been such a defender of retransmission consent in the traditional ecosystem and been so successful in the broadcast business and HBO because I think its going to be such a challenge for them to not cannibalize what is already a really really good business." It's true CBS has sued everyone and everything that has tried to bring real innovation to the TV sector, from Dish's ad-skipping Hopper DVR to Aereo. But they've hinted several times at trying to launch such a product before one of these other companies does it first. And while their new $6 streaming offer is only in 14 markets at launch and doesn't include NFL games, it's an obvious step forward. HBO too spent the lion's share of the last decade ignoring consumers and insisting that a streaming-only version of HBO simply wasn't financially plausible. Their upcoming streaming-only service comes only after executives started to realize the significant number of people ready to throw money at HBO for such a product, and that Netflix was happily running away with their future customers. While HBO's cozy cable promotional profits had the company failing to see the forest for the trees as recent as six months ago, company CEO Richard Plepler now says he's not worried about cannibalizing traditional TV subscribers. "I don’t think this is an either or," Plepler stated this week. "The great preponderance of this is additive." You can, pretty obviously, only swim upstream for so long before the evolutionary current nabs you. NBCU's Burke being surprised that HBO and CBS are finally breaking down and giving consumers what they want, is like a river captain waking up in the morning and being shocked by the current. You can, pretty obviously, only swim upstream for so long before the evolutionary current nabs you. NBCU's Burke being surprised that HBO and CBS are finally breaking down and giving consumers what they want, is like a river captain waking up in the morning and being shocked by the current.







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Most recommended from 31 comments

SunnyD

join:2009-03-20

Madison, AL 7 recommendations SunnyD Member The associated article picture... It's priceless. Thank you.

buzz_4_20

join:2003-09-20

Biddeford, ME 2 recommendations buzz_4_20 Member Being Surprised About another company giving consumers what they want might just say something about what you think of your own consumers.