Watch HBO Shows on Amazon Prime — Without a Cable Subscription

By Nicole Nguyen

This is major. Amazon just signed a six-year exclusive deal with HBO. Starting today, several HBO shows will be available for streaming on Amazon Prime Instant Video, including Flight of the Conchords, True Blood, and The Wire. But the most exciting news is that users won't need an HBO cable subscription — just an Amazon Prime account.

The cast of HBO's Girls.

Granted, Amazon Prime just raised membership fees from $79 to $99. But between free two-day shipping, access to the Kindle Library, plus Amazon Instant Video with HBO, the increase might be worth it. This is a big deal for HBO, which doesn't make it easy for people without cable to watch its content. Shows currently on the air aren't available through streaming services like Hulu or Netflix, iTunes doesn't receive them until long after the season is over, and HBO Go requires a cable subscription.

One notable series missing from the Amazon Prime-HBO deal is our favorite show of politicking, pillage, and plunder, Game of Thrones, but there will be other great content available.

What You'll Be Able to Watch Today

  • The Sopranos
  • The Wire
  • Deadwood
  • Rome
  • Six Feet Under
  • Eastbound & Down
  • Enlightened
  • Flight of the Conchords
  • Boardwalk Empire (select seasons)
  • True Blood (select seasons)
  • Treme (select seasons)
  • Original movies: Game Change, Too Big to Fail, and You Don't Know Jack
  • Documentaries: Autopsy, Iceman, Ghosts of Abu Ghraib, and When the Levees Broke
  • Comedy specials: Lewis Black, Ellen DeGeneres, Louis CK, and Bill Maher

What You'll Be Able to Watch in the Coming Years

Over the next few years, more HBO shows will arrive on Amazon Prime. They will be available approximately three years after airing on HBO.

  • Girls
  • The Newsroom
  • Veep

HBO Go will also arrive on Fire TV, Amazon's $99 streaming media player, by the end of 2014.