HBO Go Craps The Bed During True Detective Finale

(Mis)Uses of Technology

from the HBO-go-HBO-went dept

Hey, HBO, can we talk for a moment? It won’t take long, it’s just that we’re all worried about you. We want you to know that we really appreciate this new stance you’ve been slowly but surely taking on internet streaming. We really appreciate that you’re finally starting to come around on unleashing your HBO Go product to the masses, even if they don’t pay for your cable product. We know you’re scared about this big transition in your life, especially when you’ve had so much trepidation about it in the past.

Maturing is scary and difficult, I know, but you have to be prepared for the changes. You’re going to be awkward for a while, you might get hair in places you’ve never had it before, and you won’t understand what’s happening to you. But if you’re going to be a big boy digital provider, you can’t crap the bed when the show that’s making you the most relevant at the moment is in such high demand.

Some “True Detective” fans hoping to watch the season finale on HBO’s streaming service were left hanging Sunday as the site experienced technical problems. Instead of watching the show on HBO Go, some viewers were left looking at a stalled loading screen. Frustrated viewers took to Twitter to complain about delays and being unable to access the show.

One user tweeted, “My HBO Go is just a spinning wheel of non-loading hopelessness and despair.” Another wrote, “SOS: @HBO Go is not working. This is anything but okay. Someone give me answers.”

All your friends want is for you to be everything you can be, if you’d just put in the effort. You’re playing with the grownups now, so it’s time to put the that little kid backpack away and buy a briefcase. If you’re ever going to be the streaming service you should be, the one that will net you tons of customers and money, it’s time to bolster the streaming service so that it can handle peak loads. True Detective was great, but that doesn’t matter if nobody can, you know, watch it. And the first step in fixing a problem is admitting you have one.

HBO Go, in a tweet on Sunday night, said: “Due to overwhelmingly popular demand for #TrueDetective, we’ve been made aware of an issue affecting some users. Please try again soon.” In a statement Monday, the company said the site had experienced “an excessive amount of traffic” and that the service was now “back to normal.”

Your service being back to normal because nobody is watching it any longer isn’t exactly an accomplishment. The days of getting stars next to your name for attendance, or trophies for participating, are over. Make this thing work reliably and you’ll have all the friends and fans you could ever want, but it’s time to grow up.

Filed Under: hbo, hbogo, true detective