HBO streaming exclusively on Amazon Instant Video →
This is certainly a substantial win, but it’s less groundbreaking when you read that it’s only for HBO’s old shows like The Wire and The Sopranos:
The deal also includes “early” seasons of Boardwalk Empire and True Blood. Newer shows like Girls, The Newsroom, and Veep will eventually be made available to Prime subscribers, but not until three years after they’ve first aired on HBO. And other hits like Game of Thrones aren’t even mentioned as part of the deal…
It’s better than nothing, but it probably won’t change much for HBO, Amazon, or the primary “losers” in this deal: Netflix and (indirectly) Apple.