'Sopranos' and 'The Wire': HBO on Amazon

Until now, HBO has been reluctant to share its programming with other content providers, preferring instead to make its shows available for streaming only via services it owns. But this week, the cable network, apparently deciding it can no longer go it alone, announced a deal with Amazon to make some of its programming available via the Amazon Prime video streaming service. But is it really as big a deal as it seems at first?

HBO says that beginning in May, some of its shows will be available exclusively on Amazon, and more will become available in time. It looks like a coup for Amazon, which has struggled to compete in the streaming market with Netflix. Now that "The Sopranos" and "The Wire" will be available only Amazon, the company can boast some high-profile titles that Netflix doesn't have.

It's worth noting, though, that the titles that will immediately become available on Amazon are defunct and relatively old series such as "The Sopranos," "The Wire," "Deadwood" and "Six Feet Under." They're respected and loved titles, to be sure, but they're not exactly the talk of the town any more.

Current series such as "Girls" and "Veep" will hit Amazon about three years after they air, which means that you'll be able to see what everyone's talking about around the water cooler this week sometime in 2017. Who knows if anyone will remember who Lena Dunham is by that time. And there was no mention of "Game of Thrones" at all.

So, although Amazon is definitely scoring with the deal, HBO's stingy grip on its hottest programming is making the announcement much less impressive than it could have been.