Hi! My Name Is "HBO Now"

The long buildup to the launch of the HBO over-the-top service has passed another milestone. The service has a name: "HBO Now".

The forthcoming HBO service will not share a name with Eminem's alter ego.

Michael Learmouth in the International Business Times reports that HBO Now will cost $15 per month and be available exclusively through Apple at its launch in April.

It is probably not a coincidence that Game of Thrones will premiere its fifth season on April 12.

Others seem less certain that a pure over-the-top offering is the plan. As Todd Spangler notes in Variety: "it’s still not clear if HBO Now will be available to consumers only via broadband providers in a bundled offering — or if anyone with a high-speed Internet connection could sign up." This is a point that many seem to have missed, but consistent with my original post on the subject.

We have a name for the service, but no logo for HBO Now, yet.

Update (9 March 2015): HBO CEO Richard Plepler confirms to Recode's Peter Kafka that going with the cable ISPs is Plan A for the distribution of HBO Now.
Update (10 March 2015): One group that $15/month HBO Now definitely makes look bad -- the distributor charging $17.99/month for HBO.
Update (16 March 2015): Cablevision is the first ISP to sign on to offer HBO Now. "Cablevision plans to provide pricing and other particulars for HBO NOW in the coming weeks." So much for HBO going direct-to-consumer. In the words of Pete Townshend, "meet the new boss, same as the old boss".
Update (20 March 2015): The Wall Street Journal reported that HBO and others were talking to cable ISPs about managed services (a/k/a fast lanes) -- a no-no under net neutrality. Tiernan Ray figured out that does not make sense -- good reporting, something far from common in the coverage of over-the-top video.