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Surprise: Comcast won't let anyone watch HBO Go on PlayStation 4

Surprise: Comcast won't let anyone watch HBO Go on PlayStation 4

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And that's a shame, because HBO Go on PS4 is amazing

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Comcast subscribers can't watch HBO Go on PlayStation 4. The app arrived on Sony's console Tuesday — and let me tell you, PlayStation owners had been dreaming of and awaiting that day for months. And then it came! Every other major cable or satellite provider is happy to let you authenticate and start watching Girls without any issue. But Comcast doesn't even appear on the list among its cable brethren.

This story is starting to sound like a broken record. There's an echo effect in here. Every other cable company has a history of playing nicely with HBO and letting customers watch the streaming service on smartphones, set-top boxes, and game consoles. But not Comcast. It took Roku and Comcast forever to reach a deal that opened the gates to HBO Go. Amazon still hasn't even gotten there with Fire TV. And this isn't the first time Sony and Comcast have butted heads. You still can't watch HBO Go on the PlayStation 3 app that launched an entire year ago. So the disconnect is clearly between Comcast and Sony more than any squabble between Comcast and HBO. This is a forum thread where Comcast's own paying subscribers have been complaining — for more than a year.

HBO Go on PS4 is the best experience I've had with the service so far

And here's the thing: Comcast subscribers are really missing out. After spending some time with HBO Go on PlayStation 4 last night, I think it's the best experience I've had with the service yet. It was worth some waiting. The app is lightning fast, fluid, and intuitive with a gorgeous user interface from top to bottom. Give me this over HBO Go on the Apple TV any day of the week. If you've used HBO Go on Xbox One, you've seen something similar. But if Sony is your console maker of choice, you simply can't have the best HBO Go experience available right now. That sucks and isn't fair.

The fact that Comcast has been unable to reach satisfactory terms with a company of Sony's size for more than a year probably deserves some scrutiny from the FCC as it reviews the Time Warner Cable merger proposal. TWC has never gotten in the way of its customers watching content they already pay for in this manner, so the continued split between Sony and Comcast isn't an encouraging sign. Bring on HBO Now. Please.