Winter is coming — to your smart TV. The spectacular third season of Game of Thrones will be available in gleaming HD on Blinkbox from 15 July, the streaming service has announced. That’s a whole month to go to avoid spoilers if you don’t have a Sky subscription, or aren’t a ransacking pirate from the Iron Islands.
Blinkbox doesn’t currently offer any shows in high definition, but it’s using the latest series of the epic grownup fantasy to launch its HD service. It hasn’t said if it’ll be any more expensive, but standard definition will be available too, so I’d expect so.
House Blinkbox (house words: “The best way to watch the latest movies online, without subscription.” Stirring, I think you’ll agree) is available on virtually all UK smart TVs and via its website. It’s the first digital service with the rights to the latest season of GoT, as well as the rest of highbrow US cable network HBO’s output.
The third series of the George RR Martin adaptations finished last night on Sky, after a penultimate episode last week that sent Twitter and Facebook reeling.
Blinkbox, which swears fealty to House Tesco, hasn’t yet revealed how many gold dragons each episode will cost. Paying the gold price for the first two series currently costs £1.89 for each show, or £18 for a full season. That’s on a buying, not rental, basis so you can watch them however many times you like.
One of Blinkbox’s main UK rivals, Acetrax, recently announced it was closing, having been plundered by Sky last year. You have until 21 June to use up all your credit, if you have any left.
Earlier this year, HBO programming boss Michael Lombardo said the huge popularity of Game of Thrones on piracy sites was “a compliment of sorts” and “certainly didn’t negatively impact DVD sales.”
Do you use Blinkbox? Is HD the deal-breaker? Do you think £1.89 per episode is a fair price for an hour of lusty dragon gore? Make your mark down in the comments, or send a raven to our gigantic icy Facebook wall. While you wait for your watch to begin, here’s The National with a heart-rending version of the Rains of Castermere.