Google’s I/O 2015 developer conference saw some interesting announcements from the company, which we’ve profiled here and here.
Perhaps one of the most interesting announcements came from Google’s de-facto CEO, Senior Vice President Sundar Pichai, who announced that HBO Now is coming to both Android TV and Chromecast. The announcement comes right at the end of a 7 week exclusive that Apple had on HBO’s stand-alone streaming and on-demand video service.
The fact Google pounced so quickly after Apple’s exclusive shows that its taking TV very seriously. And the fact it announced it for Chromecast confirms our earlier report that Chromecast, possibly combined with Android phones, will be a key component of Google’s TV strategy going forward.
HBO Now, launched last April, was a turning point in the TV space as HBO became the first premium cable network to offer its content without a cable or satellite TV subscription. HBO Now subscriptions cost $15 a month and were previously only available for Apple devices.
In addition to the Google announcement boosting HBO’s userbase, it also offers high quality content for Google’s services which should boost Chromecast popularity.
Given Google has already sold over 17 million Chromecast units its clear that with HBO on board the search giant will sell many more, further extending its push into TV land.
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