Eddy Cue and Jimmy Iovine at Code Conference via Re/code
As HBO’s new standalone streaming service launches today exclusively on Apple TV and iOS devices, FastCompany has a story profiling HBO CEO Richard Plepler and the motivation behind the new service and partnership with Apple.
In the story, Plepler denies that an $80 billion bid to buy Time Warner encouraged the launch of HBO Now and explains that he had already reached out to Apple executive Jimmy Iovine, who he had worked for previously at Warner Music:
Plepler had done PR for Iovine years earlier, at Warner Music. Iovine had sold Beats, the headphone business he owned with Dr. Dre, to Apple in May, for $3 billion. Plepler asked if Iovine thought Apple would be interested in being the lead distributor of HBO Now. Iovine didn’t hesitate: “I think that’s the shit,” he said… Plepler explained that he needed a distributor, and that HBO Now would be ready by the spring (when Game of Thrones’ season 5 would bow). Cue tells me that he wanted to do the deal with HBO “the next day.”
While Apple works on its next generation Apple TV product, as we reported in March, the company has continued to regularly add more content to the service and is reportedly negotiating with content providers for a new upcoming streaming service.
The full story on FastCompany has more insight into the new HBO Now service and Plepler’s plans for the service. The new HBO Now service is available now on Apple TV, iPhone, and iPad for $14.99/month with a 30-day free trial.
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How much could Apple buy just HBO for?
+$20 Billion USD
From Seekingalpha.com:
‘HBO is responsible for roughly 18% of revenue and 25% of adjusted operating income at Time Warner. Taking 18%-25% of Time Warner’s $58 billion market cap, it’s reasonable to assume the market values HBO at $10.5-$15 billion’
Yeah, they are owned by Time Warner and I don’t think TW is selling it. Oh well. so goes that theory.
“$80 million bid” → “$80 billion bid”
So you still need an internet connection. Comcrap gives me HBO for free with their Internet Plus package for $75/month. They are the only reliable ISP so I just can’t see the benefit.
I had horrible service with Comcast when I had it. I switched to one of the first fiber ISPs in the country Winfirst and they were great, but they got bought out by Surewest, but they were still pretty good.
What is Jimmy’s job title anyway? He’s not listed with Apple’s Executive Management. Here’s a link to the Apple Leadership webpage. Jimmy or Dre isn’t listed, so maybe they are just fictitious roles to satisfy the Beats buyout. https://www.apple.com/pr/bios/