Netflix to offer HBO shows and movies online

If HBO is the only reason you’re dishing out more than $100 for your cable bill every month, Netflix’s plan may convince you to pull the cable plug. Entourage, Flight of the Concords, and your other HBO favorites could soon be available online.

Netflix is known for delivering movies right to your doorstep, but have recently added the option of streaming TV shows and movies from the internet onto your television or computer.

Now the company has even bigger plans. Netflix sent a survey to its customers asking if they’d be willing to pay an extra ten dollars a month to watch HBO movies and shows online.

Most customers pay about 15 dollars a month for their Netflix subscription, which already gives them access to a library of HBO shows and movies available by mail on DVD.

The difference with the new feature is that instead of waiting for a disc to show up in the mail, you could get a movie or TV show instantly online. Which begs the question, is the payoff worth the price?

Some people were intrigued, while others were hesitant. “I would if all the HBO programs were offered. I don’t think ten dollars a month is super high so I would pay it,” said Lindsay Snow of Wilmington.

Ivan Silva was in agreement. “It’s better than paying five dollars per movie at Blockbuster.”

However, David Hardin said, “Personally, I would not pay an extra ten dollars to get HBO on Netflix just because you can get a lot of the HBO shows on DVD through Netflix, so to me, it really wouldn’t be worth it.”

A study by the firm ‘In-Stat’ shows the online video market nearly quadrupling over the next three years – from $1.2 billion, to $4.5 billion.