HBO

This article is about the U.S. pay television channel. For HBO in other countries, see HBO (international). For other uses, see HBO (disambiguation).

HBO

Country	United States
Headquarters	New York City
Ownership
Owner	HBO Media Group (Warner Bros. Discovery Television)
Availability
Streaming media
HBO Max	hbomax.com (requires subscription or trial to access content)

HBO (an abbreviation of Home Box Office) is an American premium television channel that serves as the namesake property of HBO Media Group, which in turn is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery Television, a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. The programming featured on the network consists primarily of theatrically released motion pictures and original television shows, along with made-for-cable movies, documentaries and occasional comedy and concert specials.

HBO is the oldest and longest continuously operating pay television service (basic or premium) in the United States, having been in operation since November 8, 1972. In 2016, HBO had an adjusted operating income of US$1.93 billion, compared to the US$1.88 billion it accrued in 2015. HBO has 140 million subscribers worldwide As of 2018. The network provides seven 24-hour multiplex channels, including HBO Comedy, HBO Latino, HBO Signature, and HBO Family. It launched the streaming service HBO Now in April 2015 and has over 5 million subscribers in the United States As of February 2018.

Overview

As of July 2015, HBO's programming is available to approximately 36,493,000 households with at least one television set (31.3% of all cable, satellite and telco customers) in the United States (36,013,000 subscribers or 30.9% of all households with pay television service receive at least HBO's primary channel), making it the second largest premium channel in the United States (Encore, owned by Starz Inc., reaches 40.54 million pay television households as of July 2015). In addition to its U.S. subscriber base, HBO distributes content in at least 151 countries, with approximately 140 million subscribers worldwide.

HBO subscribers generally pay for an extra tier of service that includes other cable- and satellite-exclusive channels even before paying for the channel itself (though HBO often prices all of its channels together in a single package). However, a regulation imposed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requires that cable providers allow subscribers to get just "limited" basic cable (a base programming tier that includes local, and in some areas, out-of-market broadcast stations and public, educational, and government access channels) and premium services such as HBO, without subscribing to expanded service (Comcast is the only major provider to have purposefully offered the network in such a manner utilizing this law, as it offered a bundled cable/Internet package that included limited basic service and HBO from October 2013 to July 2014, or January of the latter year in some markets). Cable providers can require the use of a converter box—usually digital—in order to receive HBO.

HBO also provides its content through digital media; the channel maintains HBO Go, a video on demand streaming service available as a website and slate of mobile apps exclusively to existing subscribers of the linear channel suite and a separate, but similar standalone service, HBO Now, which launched in April 2015 as a subscription streaming platform that does not require a subscription to the HBO television service.

HBO also maintains near-ubiquitous distribution in hotels across the United States through agreements with DirecTV, Echostar, SONIFI Solutions, Satellite Management Services, Inc., Telerent Leasing Corporation, Total Media Concepts and World Cinema as well as cable providers that maintain hospitality service arrangements with individual hotels and local franchises of national hotel/motel chains; although Home Box Office Inc. does not keep tallies of national hotel distribution numbers, LodgeNet (now SONIFI Solutions) estimated in 2008 that HBO was available to 98% of all hotels that at least receive cable or satellite service via the content and connectivity solutions company. Since June 2018, through a content partnership with Enseo, HBO Go is also distributed to some Marriott International hotels around the U.S.; guests staying in Marriott hotels that have access to HBO Go on connected in-room TV sets are not required to sign into the system in order to access content.

Many HBO programs have been syndicated to other networks and broadcast television stations (usually after some editing for running time and/or content that indecency regulations enforced by jurisdictional telecommunications agencies or self-imposed by network Standards and Practices departments may prohibit from airing on broadcast and cable networks), and a number of HBO-produced series and films have been released on DVD. Since HBO's more successful series (most notably shows such as Sex and the City, The Sopranos, The Wire, Entourage, Six Feet Under, Boardwalk Empire, Game of Thrones and True Blood) air on over-the-air broadcasters in other countries (such as in Canada, Australia and much of Europe—including the United Kingdom), HBO's programming has the potential of being exposed to a higher percentage of the population of those countries compared to the United States.

Because of the cost of HBO (which is the most expensive of the U.S. premium services, costing a monthly fee as of 2015 between $15 and $20 depending on the provider), many Americans only view HBO programs through DVDs or in basic cable or broadcast syndication—months or even years after these programs have first aired on the network—and with editing for both content and to allow advertising, although several series have filmed alternate "clean" scenes intended for syndication runs.

Channel

Background

In 1991, HBO and Cinemax became the first premium services to offer multiplexed services to cable customers as companions to the main network, offering additional channels of the two services to three TeleCable-operated systems in Overland Park, Kansas, Racine, Wisconsin and the Dallas suburbs of Richardson and Plano, Texas. The first two multiplex channels—HBO2 and HBO3—launched as part of this test by the TeleCable systems. The following year, research from ACNielsen revealed that multiplex delivery of HBO and Cinemax had a positive impact on subscriber usage and attitudes, including aiding in the retention of pay cable subscriptions by its subscribers.The HBO multiplex would later expand in December 1996, with the launch of HBO Family, focusing on family-oriented feature films and television series aimed at younger children. The HBO multiplex channels became collectively marketed under the brand name "HBO The Works" in April 1998 (the Cinemax channels concurrently began to be marketed as "MultiMax"), coinciding with the name change of HBO2 as HBO Plus (the channel would ultimately restore the HBO2 name in September 2002), and the rebranding and format change of HBO3 as HBO Signature (a network aimed at women). In May 1999, two more channels launched: HBO Comedy (featuring comedic films and series, along with comedy specials) and HBO Zone (a network aimed at young adults). Just over a year later in October 2000, the Spanish language network HBO Latino debuted, featuring a mix of dubbed simulcasts of the main HBO channel's programming and Spanish programs that are exclusive to the channel.as of 2016, although HBO and Cinemax's respective multiplex packages are marketed collectively as the "HBO/MAX Pak". HBO Family and HBO Latino had the distinction of being the only multiplex channels of HBO that have their own websites, as all of the others were integrated within the main HBO site; the separate sites and sections for both channels were eliminated in 2010, around the time the HBO Go service was launched."HBO The Works" continued in use as the brand for the HBO multiplex until 2004. Individually, the HBO multiplex channel suite has no "official" marketed name

List of channels

Depending on the service provider, HBO provides up to fifteen multiplex channels—seven 24-hour multiplex channels, all of which are simulcast in both standard definition and high definition—as well as a subscription video-on-demand service (HBO on Demand). Off-the-air maintenance periods of a half-hour up to two hours occur during overnight periods at scattered times on each channel once each month.

HBO broadcasts its primary and multiplex channels on both Eastern and Pacific Time Zone schedules. The respective coastal feeds of each channel are usually packaged together (though most cable providers only offer the east and west coast feeds of the main HBO channel, as well as HBO2 in some cases), resulting in the difference in local airtimes for a particular movie or program between two geographic locations being three hours at most. The premium film service Cinemax, which is also owned by Time Warner through Home Box Office Inc., operates as a separate service from HBO; although HBO is very frequently sold together in a package with Cinemax, subscribers to one of the services do not necessarily have to subscribe to the other.

Channel	Description and programming
HBO	The flagship service; HBO airs popular feature films, first-run films, original series and made-for-cable movies, boxing events, sports, comedy and occasional concert specials, and documentaries. The channel also typically debuts new movies on a weekly basis—with feature films debuting on HBO within a lag of between eight months to one year on average from their initial theatrical release—on Saturday nights (usually around 8:00 pm. Eastern Time; the Pacific Time Zone broadcast of the premiered film airs later in the evening when a live special—most commonly, a telecast of HBO World Championship Boxing or HBO Boxing After Dark—is scheduled to air that particular Saturday, with the special being shown after the movie on the Eastern Time Zone feed). The main HBO channel mainly airs R-rated films only after 8:00 pm. Eastern and Pacific, but does air certain TV-MA rated programs during the daytime hours.
HBO2	A secondary channel that features a separate schedule of theatrical and original made-for-cable movies, series and specials, as well as same-week rebroadcasts of newer films, boxing events and episodes of HBO original series aired recently on the primary channel. Unlike the main HBO channel, HBO2 broadcasts R-rated films during the daytime hours, along with its other channels (excluding HBO Family). Launched on August 1, 1991, the channel was renamed HBO Plus on April 1, 1998, but reverted to the original "HBO2" name in September 2002. In Latin America, a regional version of HBO2 rebroadcasts movies previously aired on the main HBO Latin America channel, and HBO Plus functions as a separate channel.
HBO Comedy	Launched on May 6, 1999, HBO Comedy features comedic films, as well as rebroadcasts of HBO's original comedy series and stand-up specials; the channel broadcasts R-rated films during the daytime hours, but only airs adult comedy specials at night.
HBO Family	Launched in December 1996, HBO Family features movies and series aimed at children, as well as feature films intended for a broader family audience. It airs a block of series aimed at preschoolers, "HBO Kids" (formerly "Jam"), each morning from 6:00 to 11:00 a.m. and weekday afternoons from 4:00 to 5:00 pm. Eastern and Pacific Time; films and family-oriented original specials fill out the remainder of the channel's daily schedule. All films broadcast on HBO Family are rated G, PG or PG-13 (or the equivalent TV-G, TV-PG or TV-14); R or NC-17 rated films and TV-MA rated programs are not broadcast on the channel. Children's programs that formerly ran on the main HBO channel in the form of a daily morning block, with specials airing during the late afternoon/early evening hours; these programs migrated entirely to HBO Family by the early 2000s. With the exception of 1 hour at 9:00 AM and 9:30 AM Est of Sesame Street, Esme & Roy and an unbrand block of one to two movies appropriate for family viewing on Saturdays (before and after Sesame Street and Esme & Roy), HBO does not air any ofter children's programs on its main channel any more. HBO Family is HBO's third (and only successful) venture at a family-oriented pay service: two similarly formatted standalone mini-pay services that were launched by the network, Take 2 in 1979 and Festival in 1987, both ceased operations after short existences. Despite being a premium service, cable providers have occasionally used HBO Family to temporarily replace television stations that were dropped due to carriage disputes with providers such as during Hearst Television's 2012 dispute with Time Warner Cable that resulted in TWC's associated Bright House Networks system substituting independent station WMOR-TV with the channel in Tampa, Florida, and a dispute between Cox Communications and LIN TV in which HBO Family temporarily replaced Fox affiliate WVBT from Cox's Hampton Roads, Virginia system from January to February 2000.
HBO Latino	Launched on October 31, 2000 (although originally slated to debut on September 18 of that year), HBO Latino is a channel aimed at Hispanic and Latino American audiences that largely serves as a Spanish language simulcast of the primary HBO channel, with the exception of some limited program substitutions and different network promotions featured in-between programs (HBO and its other multiplex channels also utilize the second audio program function included on many television sets, and cable and satellite receivers to provide alternate Spanish language audio tracks of most programs). The channel's programming includes HBO original productions, Spanish and Portuguese series from HBO Latin America, dubbed versions of Hollywood blockbusters, Spanish-language films and boxing events (including the original boxing series Boxeo De Oro). The channel is the successor to HBO en Español (originally named Selecciones en Español de HBO y Cinemax), which launched in 1989.
HBO Signature	HBO Signature features high quality films, HBO original series and specials. Launched in 1991, the channel was originally known as "HBO 3" until October 1998, when its format was changed from a genericized format similar to HBO and HBO2 to focusing on movies, series and specials targeted at a female audience.
HBO Zone	Launched on May 6, 1999, HBO Zone airs movies and HBO original programs aimed at young adults between the ages of 18 to 34 years old. It was also the only HBO channel that broadcasts softcore pornographic programming, featuring adult-oriented movies similar to those seen on sister network Cinemax's Max After Dark block on most days in late-night. Max After Dark was ceased in late 2013.

Cinemax

Main article: Cinemax

Cinemax logo

On August 1, 1980, HBO launched Cinemax, a companion movie-based premium channel created as HBO's answer to fellow movie-oriented pay service The Movie Channel (which operated as a standalone service at the time). Unlike HBO, Cinemax maintained a 24-hour schedule from its launch. The channel succeeded early on partly due to its reliance on movie classics from the 1950s to the 1970s—with some more recent films mixed in—that would be presented uncut and without commercial interruption, at a time when cable subscribers only received about three dozen channels due to limited headend channel capacity. In most cases, cable operators sold Cinemax and HBO as a single package, usually offered at a discount for customers that chose to subscribe to both channels.

In its early years, Cinemax carried music specials and some limited original programming such as Second City Television and Max Headroom in addition to movies, but the network subsequently become known among its subscribers for airing softcore adult films and series during the late night hours that contain strong sexual content and nudity (broadcasts of such programs are restricted from airing on the main Cinemax channel before 11:30 pm. Eastern Time), and eventually began producing original action series in August 2011. Beginning with the launch of Cinemax 2 (now MoreMax) in 1991, Cinemax has gradually launched its own set of multiplex services; as of 2015, in addition to its main feed and MoreMax, Cinemax operates five additional channels: ActionMax (which originally launched as Cinemax 3 in 1995); ThrillerMax (which launched in 1998); MovieMax (which originally launched as WMax in 2001); Cinemáx (a Spanish language simulcast feed, which originally launched as the separately formatted @Max in 2001) and 5StarMax (which originally launched in 2001).

Other services

HBO HD

HBO HD is a high definition simulcast feed of HBO that broadcasts in the 1080i resolution format. In addition to its main channel, HBO also operates high definition simulcast feeds of its six multiplex channels. HBO HD is available on most major cable providers including Cox Communications; DirecTV; Charter Communications; Time Warner Cable; Dish Network; Comcast (In 2016 Comcast confirmed that it was changing 1080i channels to 720p60); AT&T U-verse; Optimum; and Verizon FiOS, although few providers offer all seven multiplex channels in HD. The main channel first began broadcasting in high definition on March 6, 1999.

HBO on Demand

HBO on Demand is the channel's subscription video-on-demand service; launched on July 1, 2001 on Time Warner Cable's Columbia, South Carolina system, it was the first subscription VOD service offered by a premium channel in the United States. HBO on Demand offers a selection of movies, original series and specials previously seen on the network. The service is provided at no additional cost to HBO subscribers, who already regularly pay a premium fee to cable and satellite providers to receive access to the channel. HBO launched the VOD service in an effort to allow subscribers access to the channel's programming on their own schedules, thereby reducing the frequency in which viewers were unable to find a program they would like to watch as well as limiting cancellations to the service for that same reason. HBO on Demand features a rotating selection of films, specials and series, with new titles added each Friday alongside existing program titles held over from the previous one to two weeks.The standard definition and high definition versions of the HBO on Demand service are available on most cable and satellite providers, delivered to customers who subscribe to the linear HBO channels at no additional charge. On January 3, 2011, HBO became the first premium channel and the first cable network to offer a 3D-only VOD service as it launched a subscription video on demand service offering feature films in 3D to Time Warner Cable, Comcast and Verizon FiOS customers who subscribe to the HBO service.In the United Kingdom, a domestic version of HBO on Demand launched on TalkTalk TV in 2015, available through the provider's box sets as a strictly buy-and-keep service.

HBO Go

Main article: HBO Go

HBO Go logo

On February 18, 2010, HBO launched HBO Go, a service that carries 1,000 hours of program content available for streaming in standard or high definition, intended as a TV Everywhere service available only to existing subscribers of the linear HBO television channels (a requirement necessary to access its content via streaming devices such as Roku and Apple TV, and some video game consoles, as well as via its website and mobile apps). Content available on HBO Go includes theatrically released films as well as HBO original programs, movies, comedy specials, documentaries, sports and late night adult programming.

HBO Now

Main article: HBO Now

HBO Now logo

On October 15, 2014, HBO announced plans to launch an over-the-top subscription video on demand service in 2015, which would be distributed as a standalone offering that does not require an existing television subscription to use. The service, HBO Now, was unveiled on March 9, 2015, and officially launched one month later on April 7. The service was initially available via Apple Inc. to Apple TV and iOS devices for a three-month exclusivity period following its formal launch, before becoming available for subscription through other participating Internet service providers. Available for $15 per month, HBO Now is identical to HBO Go in terms of content and features. New episodes of HBO series are made available for streaming the same day, and usually at the same time, as their original broadcast on the main linear HBO channel. Apple's App Store features promotions offering free one-month trials or other incentives to subscribe to HBO Now, as the program is in partnership with Apple Inc. and Apple TV. The number of HBO Now subscribers reached over 2 million by February 2017.

Programming

Main article: List of programs broadcast by HBO

HBO's programming schedule currently consists largely of theatrically released feature films—which occupy the majority of its daily schedule—and original series primarily aimed at adults (including, as of November 2017, dramas such as Game of Thrones and Westworld, and comedies such as Insecure, Veep, Ballers, Last Week Tonight and Silicon Valley). In addition, HBO also carries original made-for-TV movies, sports events and sports-centric documentary and magazine series, documentary films, behind-the-scenes specials, and concert and stand-up comedy specials. The network primarily airs most of its original programs on its main channel after 8:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific Time, although it airs original series and made-for-cable movies as well as certain documentaries during the daytime hours; these programs also air at various times on HBO's multiplex channels. HBO Signature, HBO Family, HBO Comedy and HBO Zone also each carry archived HBO programming, airing repeats of former original series and specials dating back to the 1990s.

HBO has long maintained a policy not to run R-rated films on its primary channel between 6:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific Time; this policy (which may have once stemmed from HBO's availability on analog cable tiers, while its multiplex channels generally required a digital cable subscription or at least scrambling) remains in place as of 2016, despite the existence of the V-chip and other premium services having incorporated R-rated films onto their daytime schedules starting in the mid-1980s. The policy was also applied to all TV-MA rated programs after the TV Parental Guidelines were implemented on January 1, 1997; however the main HBO channel began airing a limited amount of TV-MA rated original series, movies and documentaries that contain some strong profanity and violence, but are largely devoid of nudity, and graphic violent or sexual content on weekends before 8:00 p.m. Eastern in 2010. HBO began occasionally rebroadcasting R-rated films as early as 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time in 2012, as part of its Sunday rebroadcast of the prior Saturday's movie premiere telecast, depending on the length of the film and the scheduling of any HBO original series that air after it. In 2017, the channel expanded its carriage of R-rated films to as early as 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time, regardless of the day but still on a periodic basis.

Outside of HBO Family, which does not run any programs with either a TV-MA or R rating, HBO's other multiplex channels will air TV-MA and R-rated programming during morning and afternoon time periods. HBO also does not typically allow most NC-17 rated films to be aired on the primary channel or its multiplex channels.

HBO pioneered the free preview concept—which has since become a standard in the pay television industry—in 1973, as part of a plan to increase subscribership of the channel. Cable providers were originally granted permission to carry HBO on a local origination channel in order for those who are not subscribers the ability to view the channel for a limited number of days; with the advent of digital cable and satellite, providers now unencrypt the designated slots of each HBO channel during preview periods. Until the mid-1990s, on-air promotions featured between programs were replaced (and later, merely interspersed) with interstitials featuring on-air hosts asking viewers to subscribe to the service. Although participation was voluntary, preview events are carried by most major and some smaller pay television providers (the number of providers and the providers that choose to offer the event varies depending on the given free preview period, and may not be carried on all systems owned by a multiple system operator unless at the provider's discretion); HBO currently offers between three and five preview events each year to participating providers (which are normally scheduled to coincide with the premiere of a new or returning original series, and in the past, a high-profile special or feature film).

The network also produces short segments promoting new movies with the cooperation of the film studios that hold releasing rights to the projects. These usually consist of either interstitial segments providing a behind-the-scenes look at the making of an upcoming/recently released film, with interviews with the actors and principal crew, or red carpet coverage, which are almost universally produced by studios with which HBO and Cinemax maintain exclusive premium television broadcast rights. Depending on their length or content, these are either aired as part of the feature segment HBO News (formerly titled HBO Entertainment News from 1988 to 2007), which airs during extended promotional breaks between programs and runs between three and five minutes, or as part of HBO First Look, a series of documentary-style interstitial specials (usually running 15 to 20 minutes in length, with no set schedule) that debuted in 1992. These segments, particularly episodes of First Look, have also often been included as bonus features on DVD and Blu-ray releases of the films that were profiled (many of which have aired on HBO and Cinemax once they reached their pay-cable distribution windows), though broadcasts of these interstitials have begun to be reduced to only a few episodes per year as HBO has focused on its higher-profile, long-form original programming instead and studios have internally produced behind-the-scenes featurettes for their films for exclusive physical and digital media release.

During the earlier years of the network, various short films would be aired in-between films and other programming, originally billed as Something Short and Special. Around 1980, InterMissions, as they were now called, were bannered in two groupings: Video Jukebox, for when music videos were played (these segments were eventually separated from the other intermission shorts and gained various longform spinoffs, also titled as Video Jukebox or variants thereof), and Special, for the various short films. By 1984, the shorts had largely been reduced to comedic shorts (originally named HBO Comedy Shorts and then as HBO Short Takes, which used a set of different animated intros) and HBO Shorts for Kids, seen largely before and during family-oriented programming. By the end of the decade, intermission shorts had largely vanished from the service.

During the "Executive Actions" symposium held by The Washington Post and George Washington University in April 2015 (shortly after the launch of the HBO Now streaming service), HBO CEO Richard Plepler said that he does not want the network to be akin to Netflix in which users "binge watch" its television shows and film content, saying "I don't think it would have been a great thing for HBO or our brand if that had been gobbled up in the first week[...] I think it was very exciting for the viewer to have that mystery held out for an extended period of time." Pleper cited that he feels that binge watching does not correlate with the culture of HBO and HBO watchers.

Branding

Network slogans

• 1972–1975: "This is HBO, the Home Box Office. Premium Subscription Television from Time-Life."
• 1975–1976: "Different and First"
• 1976–1978: "The Great Entertainment Alternative"
• 1978–1979: "The Home Box"
• 1979–1984: "HBO People Don't Miss Out"
• 1984–1985: "There's No Place Like HBO"
• 1985–1988: "Nobody Brings It Home Like HBO"
• 1988–1989: "Watch Us Here on HBO"
• 1988–1991: "The Best Time on TV" (general slogan) and "The Best Movies" (promotional slogan for movies)
• 1989–1990: "Let's All Get Together"
• 1989–1990: "Simply The Best" ("The Best" by Tina Turner was used as the image theme)

• 1991–1993: "We're HBO"
• 1993–1995: "Just You Wait"
• 1995–1996: "Something Special's On"
• 1996–2009: "It's Not TV. It's HBO."
• 2006–2009: "Get More" (slogan for the HBO website)
• 2009–2011: "It's More Than You Imagined. It's HBO."
• 2010–2011: "This is HBO." (only used for IDs)
• 2011–2014: "It's HBO."
• 2014–2017: "So Original"
• 2017–present: "It's What Connects Us"

International versions

Main article: HBO (international)

Since 1991, HBO has overseen a number of partnerships that operate HBO-branded television networks around the world. As the network was launched in new markets, the HBO brand has been used in several countries. HBO has established channels in various countries worldwide including Brazil, Canada, Eastern Europe, India, Mexico, Pakistan, the Caribbean, and Southeast Asia.

HBO also licenses its programming to air on certain other broadcast, cable channels and video on demand services outside the United States, such as:

• Amedia Home of HBO, which is available in Russia.
• OSN Home of HBO, which is available throughout the MENA region.
• Sky Atlantic, which is available within the Republic of Ireland, Austria, the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, San Marino and Switzerland.
• Ziggo Movies & Series XL, Video on demand service in the Netherlands.
• HBO Nordic, Video on demand service in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland.
• HBO Baltics, Video on demand service in Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania.
• M-net EDGE which is available in Sub-Sahara Africa.
• Hotstar which is an on demand service owned by Star India, streams the HBO Originals content in the Indian subcontinent.
• TVCine, which is a TV cable network in Portugal.
• Melita More, a cable television network available in Malta and Gozo.
• Be 1, a Belgian French-language TV cable channel which also provides on demand service.
• FOX Showcase, an Australian cable TV channel provided on Foxtel.
• SoHo, which is a TV satellite network in New Zealand.

See also

• Captain Midnight (HBO), a 1986 incident in which HBO's signal was jammed to protest the scrambling of its signal for satellite dish users
• HBO Boxing
• HBO Films
• HBO Canada

External links

• Official website
• HBO Program Schedules