# Why won't HBO just let me sign up for HBO? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 8, 2012, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-hbo-just-let-me-sign-up-for-hbo/624562 "2012-06-08T22:50:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![al27052](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/41988e/32.png) [@al27052](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/al27052)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2012, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-hbo-just-let-me-sign-up-for-hbo/624562/41 "2012-06-11T01:28:34Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Actually, no. (Despite what they tell you.) > They are using the public airwaves, or the public right-of-way to deliver their services. That is why they are subject to public regulation. Now if only the regulators were more responsive to the public rather than the industry, we would already be able to order just the individual channels we want. It’s a little more complicated than that. Some companies own quite a few channels, and force the TV providers to carry their less-popular channels in the same packages as their more-popular ones. This isn’t true for every channel, but it’s true for quite a few of the more-popular ones. For instance, AMC, WE, and IFC are all owned by the same company. ---
**Author:** ![dzeiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/46a35a/32.png) [@dzeiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzeiger)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2012, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-hbo-just-let-me-sign-up-for-hbo/624562/42 "2012-06-11T03:03:26Z")
> [@al27052](#): > > It’s a little more complicated than that. Some companies own quite a few channels, and force the TV providers to carry their less-popular channels in the same packages as their more-popular ones. This isn’t true for every channel, but it’s true for quite a few of the more-popular ones. For instance, AMC, WE, and IFC are all owned by the same company. Which is one of the big reasons you sometimes get the “So-and-so cable company won’t be carrying ESPN after the end of the month! Call them now and demand they keep it!” commercials. Often that means, as part of their contract re-negotiations, ESPN is trying to force the carrier to carry their new all-motorcycle racing channel or whatever, and won’t let the carrier carry their main channels without it. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2012, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-hbo-just-let-me-sign-up-for-hbo/624562/43 "2012-06-11T23:33:19Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Actually, no. (Despite what they tell you.) > They are using the public airwaves, or the public right-of-way to deliver their services. That is why they are subject to public regulation. Not disputing that. I was responding to the analogy of a restaurant with truly bizarre practices, and pointing out that if such a restaurant existed, it would be within its rights to do so. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-hbo-just-let-me-sign-up-for-hbo/624562/44 "2012-06-12T00:10:54Z")
Here’s an [article](http://consumerist.com/2012/06/hbo-has-too-much-to-lose-from-offering-standalone-hbo-go.html) that might interest the OP and other folks in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![al27052](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/41988e/32.png) [@al27052](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/al27052)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-hbo-just-let-me-sign-up-for-hbo/624562/45 "2012-06-12T01:14:17Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Here’s an [article](http://consumerist.com/2012/06/hbo-has-too-much-to-lose-from-offering-standalone-hbo-go.html) that might interest the OP and other folks in this thread. That’s interesting. I was guessing that HBO got about half of the $16/month that Dish customers pay for it. ---
**Author:** ![Ferd\_Burfel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@Ferd\_Burfel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferd_Burfel)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-hbo-just-let-me-sign-up-for-hbo/624562/46 "2012-06-12T12:47:04Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Actually, no. (Despite what they tell you.) > They are using the public airwaves, or the public right-of-way to deliver their services. That is why they are subject to public regulation. Now if only the regulators were more responsive to the public rather than the industry, we would already be able to order just the individual channels we want. [Cable TV](http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/cable-tv1.htm) doesn’t deliver it’s product to your house via airwaves. They’re not broadcasters. Also, while some of the infrastructure that they use may reside on public right of way, it is not owned by the public. The cable companies paid for all that cable and fiber themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-hbo-just-let-me-sign-up-for-hbo/624562/47 "2012-06-12T12:51:23Z")
The right of way that the cable runs through is owned by the public. They couldn’t offer their service without it. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-hbo-just-let-me-sign-up-for-hbo/624562/48 "2012-06-12T15:54:22Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > The right of way that the cable runs through is owned by the public. They couldn’t offer their service without it. Exactly. I’m not allowed to go to my local public park and build a house there for my own personal use, even if i pay for all the materials and the construction. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-hbo-just-let-me-sign-up-for-hbo/624562/49 "2012-06-12T16:05:27Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > And when’s the last time you knew of a cable company that doesn’t provide the cable box for free? I know of at least one as I pay $6.50/month for digital equipment rental (cable box) and $5/month for modem rental. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-hbo-just-let-me-sign-up-for-hbo/624562/50 "2012-06-12T16:21:40Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > I have some 200 or so channels, of which I watch probably 20 with any regularity. I would kill for a la carte cable tv. ☹ I have probably 600 channels. I watch, by my count, 16. But I need 'em all because some of the ones I watch are the HD sports channels, which are atop one of the bundling pyramids. I finally just told the cable company “I want X, and I don’t care what other crap it comes with, I won’t pay a dime more than $Y.” To my surprise, after some hemming and hawing, they agreed. I felt pretty good about that until I realized that the ease with which they gave me a discount meant they’d been scamming me for years. Oh well. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-hbo-just-let-me-sign-up-for-hbo/624562/51 "2012-06-12T16:51:07Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > And when’s the last time you knew of a cable company that doesn’t provide the cable box for free? Charter doesn’t, and it’s a sore point with many advocates and customers, since if/when they remove the analog tier, everyone that used analog will have to pony up for another $5 per month or buy a new TV. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-hbo-just-let-me-sign-up-for-hbo/624562/52 "2012-06-12T17:13:23Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > Well, we called them again and after 45 minutes of discussion with two representatives, we hammered out a deal where a guy is going to come by next week with a digital box and hook up one TV (one!) and I will get HBO for an extra $15 bucks a month. I had a feeling they were trying to sell me something I didn’t want or need, and I’m happy I finally got just one plain old premium channel added to my one dinosaur of a TV. > > Thanks for the comments. That’s why I like this place. 🙂 if you are putting that digital cable signal into an older analog tv then you will be loosing a lot of quality. if you run that signal into a digital tv it will appear much better. a digital tv also gets great over the air quality. there may be some over the air subchannels (movies, retro tv, sports, DIY) which you may not get on cable. so if you ever cut the cable, over the air tv now is better than the over the air tv of a years ago. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-hbo-just-let-me-sign-up-for-hbo/624562/53 "2012-06-12T21:00:32Z")
Re: Cost of boxes. My system: rhymes with Bombblast. If you have an analog TV, you get 2 free\* digital converter boxes for basic cable. If you want pay, etc. stuff, you get one free decoder box. If you have a device that takes cable cards, you get one free M-card. They do charge for cable modems. We own our own modem, have the two converter boxes (one for a seldom used TV and the other in case both tuners on the DVR are busy), and one M-card for our 2-tuner DVR. So no monthly fees for any of our equipment. We were also offered the free decoder box, but since it doesn’t work with our DVR, we passed. \*“Free” as in no monthly charge. In summary: All these systems are different, even ones run in different parts of the country by the same company. And the CS reps are usually clueless and don’t understand the rules. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-hbo-just-let-me-sign-up-for-hbo/624562/54 "2012-06-12T22:41:16Z")
> [@Alan\_Smithee](#): > > You know, I don’t have a TV and I don’t want one. Obviously, I don’t have basic cable. I wait for shows to come out on Amazon or iTunes. HBO has a service that lets you watch their shows on-line, and they just made it available on the Kindle Fire, which I own. But you can’t do it unless you subscribe to HBO through your local cable company. Come on, HBO, I want to give you my money! Are you talking about HBO Go? I have cable and HBO but still can’t get HBO Go, because my cable company doesn’t offer it. I can’t get it on my Kindle Fire either, presumably for the same reason. It’s a small local company, offering cable, internet and phone service. But they’re not digital (or whatever you have to be for viewers to get HiDef). The service is good though. I signed up via e-mail on a Sunday and the installer was here Monday morning. I switch back and forth between HBO and Showtime, also via e-mail, and the service is immediate. But no FX channel (so no _Justified_), only one HBO channel, and no HiDef. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-hbo-just-let-me-sign-up-for-hbo/624562/55 "2012-06-12T23:35:56Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > I have some 200 or so channels, of which I watch probably 20 with any regularity. I would kill for a la carte cable tv. ☹ The problem with a la carte is that most channels can’t support themselves alone. the big ones, food network, TLC, ESPN MTV, etc could but a lot of others would never last. wouldn’t get enough subscribers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-hbo-just-let-me-sign-up-for-hbo/624562.md?page=2)