HBO’s long-awaited standalone streaming service is expected to launch next month and, now, it may include a partnership with Apple.
That’s according to the International Business Times, which cited anonymous sources in a Wednesday report claiming that HBO is in talks with Apple (AAPL) and that the tech giant could be the premium cable network’s launch partner when the highly-anticipated service, HBO Now, finally hits the market.
The report noted that HBO is in talks with Apple to make Apple TV one of the devices carrying HBO Now when the service premieres, which is expected early next month. HBO Go is already available to HBO subscribers on Apple TV and many other devices.
“We know there’s great anticipation around our standalone streaming service,” an HBO spokesman said in a statement. “And when we have details to share, we will do so.”
An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment.
HBO and parent company Time Warner (TWX) announced in the fall that it would launch a standalone version of its streaming site HBO Go. The service is widely expected to launch in April, alongside the premiere of the fifth season of popular HBO television series Game of Thrones. HBO Now is expected to cost $15 per month, according to IBT.
In December, Coins2Day reported that HBO had decided to outsource the technology used to build the standalone streaming service through a licensing deal with MLB Advanced rather than rely on the internal tech team at HBO. (HBO’s chief technology officer, Otto Berkes, resigned his post not long after the deal was struck.)
HBO Now will be one of several new streaming content platforms to hit the market recently as broadcasters look to attract cord-cutters who have decided to part ways with traditional cable television subscriptions. NBC is reportedly set to join CBS in offering its own paid streaming service, while the Dish Network recently launched Sling TV, a service that bundles more than a dozen broadcast and cable networks into one streaming subscription that costs $20 per month.
Shares in Time Warner, which owns HBO, fell about 1% in early trading before finishing flat after the reports about the talks emerged.
— Reuters contributed to this report.
(UPDATE: Apple decline to comment.)
