HBO Go Doesn't, Again. Does It Matter?

HBO has seen this one before.

Last night, users of its HBO Go streaming service who showed up at 9pm eastern, so they could watch the much-anticipated season premiere of “Game of Thrones,” got error messages instead.

HBO sent out apologetic tweets, and eventually got things running again.

https://twitter.com/HBOGO/status/453039720151646208

This was a repeat from March, when HBO Go users who wanted to watch the much-anticipated season finale of “True Detective” went through the same experience.

The two episodes invite embarrassing comparisons to Netflix, which streams video to some 30 million customers, and doesn’t generate the same kind of headlines for its outages. The fact that Netflx isn’t showing the same show — at the same time, to many people — is relevant, but that kind of nuance doesn’t usually show up in 140 characters.

After last month’s flub, Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes said his pay-TV channel would be improving its tech. But apparently things aren’t there yet.

So what does that mean?

That depends on the reason for HBO Go’s problems, which HBO isn’t spelling out. But we can break it into two likely categories: Either HBO Go is having problems handling a rush of people showing up at its door, or HBO Go is having problems sending out lots of streams at the same time.

If it’s the latter, that could be a problem for Web video in general, which is supposed to be heading toward a future where lots of people tune in to watch the same shows, at the same time — just like conventional TV.

But if it’s just a matter of setting up a website that can handle lots of incoming traffic, that ought to be easier to fix.

We’ve seen other TV networks face the same issue, by the way, with different results. Earlier this year, ABC had a difficult time live-streaming the Oscars. But NBCUniversal* was able to let some 700,000 people stream the U.S./Russia hockey game during the Olympics.

* NBCUniversal is an investor in Re/code.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

Will you support Vox’s explanatory journalism?

Most news outlets make their money through advertising or subscriptions. But when it comes to what we’re trying to do at Vox, there are a couple of big issues with relying on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on:

First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy. We often only know a few months out what our advertising revenue will be, which makes it hard to plan ahead.

Second, we’re not in the subscriptions business. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. And we can’t do that if we have a paywall.

So even though advertising is still our biggest source of revenue, we also seek grants and reader support. (And no matter how our work is funded, we have strict guidelines on editorial independence.)

If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to Vox today? Any amount helps.

One-Time Monthly Annual

$5/month

$10/month

$25/month

$50/month

Other

$

Yes, I'll give $5/month

Yes, I'll give $5/month

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via