Comcast Offering Free HBO…Sort Of

New package unbundles HBO from premium cable.

 

Want HBO, but don’t want to pay for all the other stupid channels that come with a premium cable subscription? (Is there anybody who said no to this question?) Well, our benevolent overlords at Comcast/Kabletown are debuting an intriguing deal.

Essentially, this is how it will work: Subscribers to the deal, which is being called “Internet Plus,” get broadband internet, several basic cable stations, and HBO. They do not, as some assumed, get internet and HBO Go, without any cable. (You know, the thing your kids steal from you/the thing you steal from your parents.) The deal starts out at around $39.95 a month for most customers, before rising to $65.95. Most current Comcast subscribers (re: all of you), though, will start out at the higher rate.

For those eager to see HBO completely unbundled from cable, some in the industry think this is a sign that that could happen soon. “For HBO this is a test run. They are testing the waters,” one analyst told Reuters.

[Reuters]