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HBO-Apple deal ‘unlikely’ to make it to Australia

Australians are likely to miss out on an exclusive deal between HBO and Apple which will offer a new low-cost streaming service to United States customers, Fairfax has reported.

At Apple’s Spring Forward event on Tuesday, CEO Tim Cook announced Apple TV box users will have exclusive access to HBO’s new streaming service, HBO Now, for its first three months.

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HBO Now will sell for just $US14.99 a month, which is a major win for US customers who currently pay $100 a month for HBO’s full cable service just to watch popular series Game of Thrones.

Fairfax says the new streaming service is “unlikely” to make it to Australians because the international rights to other HBO series like The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Sex and the City and Entourage are controlled by different studios.

If true, the new HBO Now-Apple TV marriage would be yet another blow to Australians, who have had to wait two years for streaming giant Netflix to set up shop locally.

Australia has one of the highest illegal download rates in the world as Australians illegal stream or download popular series like House of Cards and Game of Thrones which aren’t locally available.

Topics: Apple
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