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HBO Go Makes It Harder to Stop Problematic Content

 On Oct. 15, HBO officially announced that it was uncoupling its programming from cable television. Sure, viewers can still buy a cable or satellite package with HBO, of course. But starting in 2015, folks will also be able to watch HBO via its HBO Go app—without a cable package at all.

Experts thought that something like this was coming. Still, it’s a pretty important development in the world of television that, like every big story, has its winners and losers.

Cable’s the biggest loser here: Already, 10 million Americans have “cut the cord” and get most of their television programming via Internet, watching it on their computers, tablets and smart television sets. With HBO now giving those millions of un-cabled households the ability to tap into their popular programming, there’s less reason than ever to sign up for pricey cable. The Wall Street Journal’s Geoffrey A. Fowler led his story with one word: “Hallelujah!” It also puts HBO Go in more or less direct competition with fellow streaming service Netflix, and many experts are predicting dark days for the latter.

But it also may have some implications for families concerned with problematic content being shoveled into their homes. While there’s still a lot we don’t know about HBO Go, what we do know is this: Game of Thrones and other problematic shows may more easily breech your family’s well-tended entertainment walls.

For decades, most families just had one main gate through which television content entered their households: the television. Sure, lots of families have long had more than one TV, but only one cable package—if they had such a package at all. And, even though those cable packages were monolithic and unwieldy, they did give parents a measure of control. If they felt that HBO or other premium services were too salacious for their families, they weren’t required to buy them. And if cable itself was too problematic, there was no requirement to purchase it at all. And lots of discerning families with television put their set(s) in multi-use rooms: no TVs in kids’ bedrooms.

In other words, parents had ways to guard that main gate. And HBO, what with its widely acknowledged use of gratuitous nudity and incredibly harsh language, was one of the elements that many parents have long guarded against.

‘Course, now you don’t need a television set to watch television. You can watch TV wherever you have an Internet connection: Computer, tablet, smartphone. And now, with HBO Go uncoupling from cable, HBO could potentially bypass your family’s main gate altogether.

Again, there’s a lot we don’t know about HBO Go. We don’t even know how much the service will cost or how that cost will be structured. We don’t know what sorts of age restrictions will be on the service, and how reliable those restrictions will be.

But it is another sign that it’s not nearly as easy to protect your families from problematic content as it used to be. As HBO Goes, so will much of the industry. And instead of one main gate to watch, you might have to keep your eyes on dozens of smaller portals.