HBO: No Broadband Talks With Netflix

As Freud might have put it: Sometimes a survey is just a survey.

Netflix recently asked its customers whether they’d be interested in paying an additional fee to have on-demand access to HBO shows and movies over the Internet. But hold on there, cowboy. At this point the DVD-by-mail company and HBO are not in discussions about a partnership.

A copy of the survey was posted over the weekend on the HackingNetflix.com blog, fueling speculation that an HBO option could be in the works. Netflix sent an e-mail survey to customers asking whether they would be interested in paying $9.99 per month — beyond their regular subscription fee — to access HBO original series such as Big Love, Entourage and Curb Your Enthusiasm as well as movies through Netflix’s Internet-streaming video feature.

Could HBO be making a broadband play by linking arms with Netflix?

The blog posting touched off ruminating that showed up on the sites of The New York Times, InformationWeek and other news outlets.

I contacted both companies to see what was up — and sorry, fanboys, at least for now there’s nothing cooking. HBO spokesman Jeff Cusson says the premium cable network has had no discussions with Netflix about offering any type of service.

Netflix vice president of corporate communications Steve Swasey confirmed the survey was a real one, distributed by the company to a small, random sampling of customers. But he said it was only posing a hypothetical scenario.

“There’s nothing more to be read into that,” he said. “Netflix surveys its members all the time about many, many aspects of the business… about content, delivery, user interface, you name it.” Swasey said the company has several hundred surveys in progress at any given time.

Clearly, though, Netflix wants to become a kind of “Internet MSO” with its strategy of embedding streaming features into a myriad of CE devices and stocking up its on-demand library.

The HBO survey may have sparked more attention than it otherwise would have because Netflix last fall cut a deal with Starz Entertainment, which is providing some 2,500 movies from Walt Disney Co. and Sony Pictures Entertainment through the Internet-streaming service for no additional charge to Netflix customers. In addition, Netflix subscribers are able to watch a live feed of the Starz TV network on their PCs.

Netflix subscribers can watch approximately 12,000 movies and TV shows on-demand over the Internet on PCs, as well as on their TVs through set-top boxes and other devices, such as Microsoft’s Xbox 360 game console and LG Electronics DVD players. LG also plans to provide access to Netflix directly through new HDTV sets this year.

But for the time being, Netflix-sters will have to get their HBO fixes the old-fashioned way: on DVD or through their cable/satellite/telco provider.