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HBO Says 'No' To Streaming Service Request

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

And today's last word in business is: no.

That's what HBO told fans who were hoping to watch shows like "Game of Thrones" on the web without having to go through a cable or satellite providers.

The premium channel was reacting to an Internet campaign, called Take My Money HBO.

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

The campaign's website asked people to tweet how much they are willing to pay for a standalone HBO GO streaming service. For now, the network's online video site is only available with a cable or any satellite subscription.

Yesterday, HBO sent out a tweet linking to an article by TechCrunch's Ryan Lawler.

GREENE: And Lawler argued it would be a bad idea for HBO to budge. The network would lose subscribers by giving up the relationship with cable providers and it would be unlikely that enough customers would sign up online to make up for those losses.

So if you want to keep up "Girls" or "True Blood" only online, you better friend an HBO cable subscriber.

And that's the business news here on MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. I'm David Greene.

MONTAGNE: And I'm Renee Montagne. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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