Chris Welch reporting for The Verge:
Amazon and HBO have signed an extensive, multi-year agreement that will bring many of the premium channel’s greatest shows including The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, and The Wire to Amazon Prime Instant Video. 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, so HBO may be holding at least some popular content away from Amazon’s on-demand streaming.
Big move by HBO. Their first deal that doesn’t require a cable subscription; a move I never thought possible considering their parent company is Time Warner.
However, the deal doesn’t include new shows. HBO’s back catalog is great, but most people are hungry for their latest shows. But let’s say we’re ok with getting older episodes, how long are we supposed to wait? “Three years after they’ve first aired on HBO.” Ridiculous. While this is progress, they need to do better.