Sometime Next Year, HBO Will Become Netflix

For a while now I've subscribed to the argument that Netflix had to become HBO faster than HBO could become Netflix. It's said that a large percentage of people keep their cable subscriptions for two reasons: HBO and ESPN.

It seems like someone at HBO has finally woken up to the idea that they could double their viewership for shows like the popular "Game of Thrones" if they provided the kinds of a la carte service that online viewers want. And now, a widely reported story (here on The Verge) says that HBO is going to roll out a full-fledged online service "sometime" next year.

The devil, as always, will be in the details - what is in the offering and is it going to be enough that people don't have to buy multi-hundred-dollar cable subscriptions to get the HBO shows they want? And most importantly, when will ESPN follow suit?