HBO CEO Richard Plepler Consulted Political Pollster Before Launching HBO Now

Before HBO launched its Internet-delivered HBO Now streaming service, it took an unusual step: It hired a political pollster.

Chief Executive Richard Plepler said at the WSJDLive conference in Laguna Beach, Calif., that he asked the pollster to treat HBO as he would a political candidate and assess its chances of winning over undecided consumers if the network offered its programming in a new way.

“We think there are 10 to 15 million additional homes out there that want HBO,” Plepler said. “Our job is to make our network available to those people.”

Plepler said he has been “very pleased” with the reception of the over-the-top HBO Now service, which launched exclusively on Apple TV and is now available through other Internet-connected devices. He said the offering has allowed the network of “Game of Thrones” and other high-end programming to reach a millennial audience.

“I don’t have to tell this audience that millennials are fast cutting the cord,” Plepler said. “We just said to ourselves, ‘We want to be available where, when and how people want our service.’”

Plepler rejected the notion that the Internet offering has cannibalized the traditional pay TV business. Instead, he’s talking to cable operators such as Comcast and Charter-Time Warner Cable about offering the standalone HBO Now product to their broadband-only customers.

“They have millions and millions of broadband-only customers,” Plepler said. “We’re saying, ‘Why wouldn’t you want to take a product like HBO, which helps people preserve their broadband … and make it a part of your product, and share the revenue with us?'”

Plepler rejected what he called the “canard” of HBO’s rivalry with Netflix. He said “99 percent” of the Netflix subscribers also subscribe to HBO.

“These are entertainment junkies,” Plepler said. “As long as we deliver good product, they’ll be subscribers.”

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 reasons that we can't rely only 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. We can’t do that if we have a paywall.

That’s why we also turn to you, our readers, to help us keep Vox free. If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to Vox today?

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