Winter is coming to King’s Landing. Or, in other words, HBO will be wooing the tech-savvy and Westeros-obsessed alike with the Game of Thrones season five premiere at the War Memorial Opera House this evening.
According to SFGate, three thousand people have been invited to the live stream in the Opera House, with 1,000 also invited to an after-party at City Hall (and countless others are sure to clamor for a glimpse of Emilia Clarke, Peter Dinklage, or one of the many other stars and HBO executives due to attend).
Previous GoT premieres have been held in Los Angeles, New York, and London, which make sense given those cities' status as global media capitals. But San Francisco? Yes, there’s a massive fan base here, but it’s all tied to the HBO Now announcement two weeks ago at the Yerba Buena Center. HBO Now, the $15-per-month standalone subscription service, will be available on Apple TV starting April 12 (just in time for the first new episode of GoT) and marks HBO’s foray into Internet subscription services à la Netflix.
HBO GO users who have pilfered passwords from friends and family for years may think this doesn't impact them but, oh, it might. Last year, Buzzfeed reported that HBO CEO Richard Pleper said the company wasn’t cracking down on sharing HBO GO passwords because it was a “terrific marketing vehicle for the next generation of viewers,” and that it “just has no impact on the business.” So while you won't have to kiss your parents' HBO GO login goodbye just yet, it would seem that with the introduction of HBO Now, illicit users suddenly have very much to do with business.
In another tech-focused move, HBO will pick 100 fans from different social media channels to attend the event on the red carpet. And for the rest of us who aren’t the chosen ones and aren’t willing to fight off crowds at the Opera House, HBO will ask stars questions that fans submit via Facebook. HBO will also stream the celebrity arrivals and behind-the-scenes footage. Just don’t be surprised if you spot Zuck or Cook somewhere on the red carpet behind the Mother of Dragons or Sansa Stark.
The live stream starts at 6pm. More info on the GoT Facebook page.
[h/t SFGate; photo courtesy of HBO]
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