DirecTV Now subscribers got a little bonus early Sunday evening: Around 5pm EST, it was revealed they could watch the Season 8 premiere of Game of Thrones, four hours before its HBO airing was scheduled to begin.
The Wrap caught the social media frenzy, as DirecTV Now people posted smartphone notifications from their cable/streaming provider, bragging about their sudden windfall.
https://twitter.com/codykeenan/status/1117537986974035969
https://twitter.com/declassifiedair/status/1117543456732143616
https://twitter.com/daenerysnazi/status/1117552395469430784
Actually, it wasn’t just the first episode, but also the second one, which won’t even air until next Sunday.
https://twitter.com/nonpromqueen/status/1117550135188312064
Of course, mixed in with the rejoicing were non-Direct TV people, who got to turn into green-eyed monsters.
Imagine rewarding DirecTV subscribers.
— Joe Reid (@joereid) April 14, 2019
Alas, it may have been too good to be true. Some people claimed that the episode had already been taken down from the site, implying that it was an accident.
https://twitter.com/tagraryens/status/1117561212395507720
DirecTV Now is owned by AT&T, and they hashed out a deal with HBO that offers their subscribers premium content — like being able to watch one of the most hotly anticipated season premieres of the year, if not all time, out of nowhere.
Of course, with great power comes great responsibility. Among the freaked-out throngs were those reminding people to not go on social media with guns blazing, firing off a rat-a-tat-tat barrage of GoT spoilers. There are, of course, those who wish to remain in the dark about the night’s twists and turns, such as the very, very, very thin possibility that Thanos, from the MCU, could get involved.
So PSA. Tonight's #GamesOfThrones premiere dropped hours and hours early on Direct TV so BE CAREFUL ONLINE FOR TWITTER IS DARK AND FULL OF SPOILERS.
— Joanna Robinson (@jowrotethis) April 14, 2019
More to come…
(Via The Wrap)
