HBO this week announced plans to pull all content available on Amazon’s Prime video in 2018.
The news comes from HBO CEO Richard Plepler, who specifically mentioned the tremendous “momentum” HBO Now is experiencing as a reason for the breakup.
According to Variety, HBO had a deal four-year deal with Amazon that was valued between $250 and $300 million. It gave Amazon Prime the exclusive rights to stream popular HBO series that had ended three years prior in their entirety. That meant shows like Sex and the City, The Sopranos and The Wire were available to stream.
HBO and Amazon originally agreed on the deal back in 2014 before Amazon had gotten its original content segment off the ground. Now, Amazon has a strong line-up of original TV shows and movies, including Manchester by the Sea, which won two Oscars back in February, and its original series Transparent, which has won multiple awards as well.
That doesn’t mean it’s not a big loss for Amazon. It will now have to rely on its original content more than ever.
Sorry, Amazon Prime customers
The announcement is a big blow to Amazon Prime customers who were hoping to catch up on older HBO shows. Now, if you want to watch them, you’ll have to pay extra by subscribing to HBO Now. If you happen to be an AT&T customer, you may already be covered.
