Sometime this spring — likely in April — HBO will start selling Web-only subscriptions.
And when it does, it will take a huge chunk out of the pay-TV business.
So says research firm Parks Associates, via a new survey of Internet users.
To be clear: Parks doesn’t come out and use the words “take a huge chunk out of the pay-TV business” in the summary of its research.
But if Parks’ research is accurate — and, crucially, if the people who respond to Parks’ survey actually follow through on their plans — then HBO’s new “over the top” service will end up costing the pay-TV business around 7 million subscribers. That’s 7 percent of the industry’s base, vaporized.
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