'Game Of Thrones' Season 5: How To Watch The Premiere On TV, Online And On Your Phone

Laura Rosenfeld, Tech Times 12 April 2015, 02:04 pm

Games of Thrones Season 5 premieres Sunday, April 12, and no one seems to really care.

I'm kidding, of course. If the Internet is any indication, everyone cares. And you should too, because there are a lot of reasons to be excited for the return of this HBO series.

For one, Season 5 will reportedly deviate from the books on which the show is based, so whether you're a huge fan of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Fire and Ice series or you're just a huge fan of the TV show, there's going to be a whole lot of new for everyone this season. Another huge reason is that Game of Thrones provides some of the most buzzworthy moments on TV of the year, so if you don't keep up with the series, you will probably feel very left out of life. That also means people love to spoil Game of Thrones on social media. You know you've had to avoid the Internet for days on end until you were able to catch up with the latest episode of Game of Thrones. Don't lie.

So what more reason do you need to drop everything and watch the Game of Thrones Season 5 premiere as it airs live on Sunday night? I'll answer that for you: none. But how oh how are you going to do so? Are you going to watch it on TV on HBO proper? Do you feel like streaming it on your laptop? Or maybe you feel like watching it on your smartphone during your commute. However you want to watch all of the fighting, lust and backstabbing play out during the Season 5 premiere of Game of Thrones, there is an option best suited for all of your needs.

On TV

If you subscribe to HBO, you know where you'll be Sunday night. The Game of Thrones Season 5 premiere airs on Sunday, April 12 at 9 p.m. EST on HBO, but you might want to sit down in front of your TV a few minutes early just to mentally prepare for what this season will bring.

Record It

Do you actually have a social life and can't spare your Sunday night to stay home and watch a TV show? Even though I don't get you doesn't mean you have to miss the Game of Thrones Season 5 premiere altogether. We have the technology. If you have a DVR — again, if you don't, I don't get you — run, don't walk, to set it up now, or else Arya Stark will probably come after you.

On Demand

Let's say you can't watch the Game of Thrones Season 5 premiere live, but you don't have a DVR. Don't panic just yet. If you have a subscription to HBO, you can of course watch the premiere on HBO On Demand. Unfortunately, you'll have to wait until the following day, Monday, April 13 to do so. You'll be so on your toes waiting to watch this episode that it's going to be like keeping watch at the Wall for White Walkers.

HBO Go

Finally, we get to streaming! If you have access to HBO Go, you're in luck because the Game of Thrones Season 5 premiere will appear on this platform the same time it airs on the HBO TV channel, at 9 p.m. EST on April 12. Let's just hope things go a lot more smoothly than they did last time.

HBO Now

It used to be that if you didn't have access to an HBO Go account, you were kind of screwed in terms of streaming the new season of Game of Thrones in a timely manner. However, HBO launched its new standalone streaming service HBO Now this week, and it completely changed all of that. Now for $14.99 a month, you can stream all of HBO's content at the same time it airs on the TV channel or on demand on your Apple TV, iOS device, Optimum Online or through a few other devices through Sling TV. But let's just say you still don't want to make a monetary commitment to HBO yet. That's fine. HBO Now is offering a free 30-day trial of the streaming service. So just sign up Sunday, and you'll be able to stream the Game of Thrones Season 5 premiere without shelling out a single dollar dollar bill. Of course, you'll still have to figure out how to stream the rest of the season once the 30 days are up, but let's enjoy what we have now, shall we?

Stream It Later

If for some strange reason you can wait to watch the Game of Thrones Season 5 premiere, you can always pay to stream it later through iTunes and Amazon Instant Video. However, Season 5 of Game of Thrones will most likely appear through these platforms a few months after the entire season has aired, so if you choose this viewing method, you better have some stamina.

On Blu-ray And DVD

Similar to the aforementioned streaming method, you can always wait to buy the entire season on Blu-ray and/or DVD. Again, this requires a lot of patience on your part because the Season 4 Blu-ray and DVD was just released on Feb. 17, 2015. Choose this option if you must, but you don't really want to wait almost a year to watch Season 5 of Game of Thrones, now do you? Plus, does anyone really watch TV this way anymore?

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