Time Warner Spikes Amid Apple/HBO Talks Over Standalone Streaming Service

Shares of Time Warner Inc (NYSE: TWX) spiked up Wednesday afternoon after news came out about Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) being in talks with HBO. According to an International Business Times report, HBO intends to make Apple TV one of the launch partners for its "HBO Now" streaming service, to debut next month, sources familiar with the matter said. This is in conjunction with the premiere of the fifth season of "Game of Thrones."

"HBO Now" was developed by HBO and streaming partner Major League Baseball Advanced Media, and will work as a standalone service. It will allow customers to subscribe directly, rather than through a third party provider. Sources said that the retail price will be around $15 a month when purchased directly from HBO.

The International Business Times article said, "With ‘HBO Now,' HBO's corporate parent, Time Warner Inc., is looking to a whole new generation of distributors for HBO such as Apple TV, Roku, Xbox, PlayStation, Amazon and others to help market the service to an estimated 10 million U.S. broadband subscribers who do not pay for a cable TV bundle. CEO Jeff Bewkes has said the offering could also help reach some of the 70 million cable TV subscribers who do not subscribe to HBO but might if given the opportunity to subscribe online."

Sources added that Apple has been "most aggressive in courting HBO in a bid to add the service to Apple TV."