Amazon Becomes Exclusive Online Home of Select HBO Shows

Some HBO shows and the Internet streaming service HBO Go will be available next month to Amazon Prime customers, the companies said on Wednesday in a move that could lure customers away from Netflix Inc.

The companies said this was the first time HBO, the premium cable channel owned by Time Warner Inc, had licensed its programming to an online subscription streaming service. Netflix customers have not been able to watch HBO shows on that service.

Amazon Prime customers will have access to the HBO programming on May 21, but most of it will first be older shows such as "The Sopranos" and "The Wire," or a smattering of earlier seasons from current series such as "True Blood."

HBO said episodes of shows such as "Girls," "The Newsroom" and "Veep" will be not be available until three years after it shows them.

Popular streaming service HBO Go will also be available on Amazon's Fire TV, a new Internet-based TV device, by the end of the year.