HBO Online No Good

I was so excited when I saw the headline "HBO Putting Shows Online, at No Additional Charge." Then I read the article:

The free service will allow access to about 400 hours of movies and original programming each month. It will be made available only to people already subscribing to HBO, and it will be marketed and delivered through cable operators.

“There are a lot of people, particularly young people, who are watching TV through the PC. We wanted to create a product for them,” said Eric Kessler, a co-president of HBO.

Most major television networks already make much of their programming available free on the Internet. But as a channel with 29 million subscribers, HBO cannot afford to bypass its cable partners.

That really sucks. If HBO wants to reduce downloads of their shows through other channels, they need to address the needs of people who want to pay HBO for their shows but not buy digital cable and 500 other channels.

Remnick on "The Sopranos"

I enjoyed reading this David Remnick article from 2001 on "The Sopranos." I especially enjoyed the end (the piece ran during the third season):

And, as Chase told me, there’s probably only one more season left in him before “The Sopranos” gets stale. He wants out. His next planned project is a feature, backed by HBO and distributed by Warner Brothers. And it is not about the Mafia. It’s about the Christian-rock scene.

Mother of Mercy, is this the end of Rico?

Heh. With the show really ending soon, I guess we have a Christian-rock movie to look forward to.