This is why TV Everywhere can't have nice things.
The tech blogosphere has erupted into its frequent juxtaposition of rage and indignation amid this week's announcement that the HBO Go app is now available for Playstation 4.
As TV Everywhere-loathing pundits for outlets including Ars Technica and Tech Dirt have noted, Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) still doesn't even have an app for the legacy Playstation 3.
"Dozens of networks, both big and small, struck deals allowing HBO to stream on the PS4, but not Comcast, the nation's largest Internet and TV provider," notes Ars Technica's Jon Brodkin.
"The goal, of course, is to keep as many users as possible on Comcast's X1 set-top platform and away from the most popular Internet video devices," adds an unbylined Tech Dirt report.
As Ars Technica notes, Comcast has been elusive in its public explanations of this rather significant hole in TV Everywhere's complex rights web.
Responding in Comcast's official forum, however, an employee for the conglomerate wrote, "HBO Go availability on PS3 (and some other devices) are business decisions and deal with business terms that have not yet been agreed to between the parties. Thanks for your continued patience."
This disconnect between consumer demand and corporate strategy is, of course, taking a toll on a six-year-old core initiative that was created to save the bacon of the pay-TV industry.
This week, for example, 21st Century Fox COO Chase Carey became the latest top programming exec to say his company is developing OTT services because TV Everywhere is simply taking too long to develop.
For more:
- read this Ars Technica story
- read this Techdirt story
Related links:
Carey: Fox readying OTT platforms, says TV Everywhere 'not anywhere near where it should be'
TVE buildout goes on: FiOS Mobile app adds 5 Fox channels, TWC TV hits Xbox One
Four reasons why TV Everywhere isn't ready for prime time: A simple look at a complex problem