HBO Eases Coronavirus Pain with 500 Hours of Free Programing

(April 3, 2020) HBO is doing its part to encourage social distancing by providing nearly 500 hours of free streaming entertainment. Designated as the #StayHomeBoxOffice campaign, HBO says subscription-free access to entertainment on HBO NOW and HBO GO will run today (Friday, April 13) through the end of April.

HBO’s extensive trove of high-quality free entertainment includes every episode of hit shows like The Sopranos, Veep, Six Feet Under, and True Blood, in addition to 20 hit movies and 10 different docuseries and documentaries. This marks the first time that HBO has made such a wide variety of programing available fee-free on its streaming platforms.

To access content, viewers need to download the HBO NOW and HBO GO apps by visiting HBONOW.com and HBOGO.com. HBO says that content will also be available through participating distribution partners’ platforms soon. The entertainment juggernaut encourages viewers to connect and participate in interactive stunts on Twitter and Instagram by following @HBO and sharing the hashtag #StayHomeBoxOffice.

Here’s a complete list of free content:
Series

• Ballers (5 Seasons)
• Barry (2 Seasons)
• Silicon Valley (6 Seasons)
• Six Feet Under (5 Seasons)
• The Sopranos (7 Seasons)
• Succession (2 Seasons)
• True Blood (7 Seasons
• Veep (7 Seasons)
• The Wire (5 Seasons)

Docuseries and Documentaries

• The Apollo
• The Case Against Adnan Syed
• Elvis Presley: The Searcher
• I Love You, Now Die: The Commonwealth v. Michelle Carter
• The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley
• Jane Fonda in Five Acts
• McMillion$
• True Justice: Bryan Stevenson’s Fight for Equality
• United Skates
• We Are the Dream: The Kids of the MLK Oakland Oratorical Fest

Warner Bros. Theatricals

• Arthur
• Arthur 2: On the Rocks
• Blinded By the Light
• The Bridges of Madison County
• Crazy, Stupid, Love
• Empire of the Sun
• Forget Paris
• Happy Feet Two
• Isn't It Romantic?
• The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part
• Midnight Special
• My Dog Skip
• Nancy Drew And The Hidden Staircase
• Pan
• Pokémon Detective Pikachu
• Red Riding Hood
• Smallfoot
• Storks
• Sucker Punch
• Unknown

 

[JStewart]

Are they worried if they made the whole catalog available their subscribers would all cancel for a month??
Game of Thrones at least. A fantasy escapist diversion that will keep one glued to a seat indoors is exactly what is called for.

 

[tripplej]

Nice. 500 hours is enough for me.

 

[JStewart]

Nice. 500 hours is enough for me.

For you’re planning, I think the dates are off in the OP. Friday April 10 to April 30 is 21 days = 504 hrs.

 

[tripplej]

It is open now actually, April 4th..

I just checked and it shows on the app, that it is available so, I am good.

 

[Todd Anderson]

For you’re planning, I think the dates are off in the OP. Friday April 10 to April 30 is 21 days = 504 hrs.

I'm fairly sure 500 refers to the number of hours of programing...

 

[Asere]

To be clear. The free streaming starts on Friday April 10 yes?

 

[tripplej]

Todd is correct, it is 500 hours of programming hours..

Asere, it started already. See link here from cnn,

Started on April 3rd.

I already watched 2 free documentaries.

Did not need to log in or anything. Just selected the free items (see graphic in above thread which shows The Sopranos and The wire - scroll left to right till you find the one you want to watch) and click play.

If you click on any other non free show or movie, you will be asked to log in.

I am not sure how they keep track of the number of hours you have watched thou.. Anyways, it is free till they say for me to stop.

 

[Asere]

Todd is correct, it is 500 hours..

Asere, it started already.

I already watched 2 free documentaries.

I'm on the HBO Now app but no free mention. Just says start free trial only.

 

[tripplej]

So you see the picture below? I downloaded both apps onto my iPhone.

 

[Asere]

I see know. Certain programming is free and some when you click it asks for a subscription. Thank you

 

[tripplej]

yes, everything is within that row for free shows/movies to watch.

I did find something interesting.

I watched one movie and then stop and then later when I went back to it, the movie restarted from the start. I would have thought since HBO is keeping track of the 500 hours, it would know where I left off. Strange. Anyways, I had to figure out where I left off and then resumed watching..

It will be interesting to see how they (HBO) actually calculate the so-called 500 hours of programming...

 

[Travis Ballstadt]

The TRT of the content they’ve unlocked is approximately 500 hours. They’re not tracking your viewing hours.

It’s not an AOL floppy.

yes, everything is within that row for free shows/movies to watch.

I did find something interesting.

I watched one movie and then stop and then later when I went back to it, the movie restarted from the start. I would have thought since HBO is keeping track of the 500 hours, it would know where I left off. Strange. Anyways, I had to figure out where I left off and then resumed watching..

It will be interesting to see how they (HBO) actually calculate the so-called 500 hours of programming...

 

[tripplej]

The TRT of the content they’ve unlocked is approximately 500 hours. They’re not tracking your viewing hours.

It’s not an AOL floppy.

Thanks. Great. lol. Now, it makes sense. It is just 500 hours of their programming that is free to see as much as you want during this time period.