Home Box Office, Inc. (HBO) is an American
multinational media
Media may refer to:
Communication
* Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data
** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising
** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass e ...
and entertainment company operating as a unit of
Warner Bros. Discovery
Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at 230 Park Avenue South in New York City. It was formed after the spin-off of WarnerMedia by AT&T, and its merger with Di ...
.
Founded by
Charles Dolan
Charles Francis Dolan (born October 16, 1926) is an American billionaire businessman, best known as founder of Cablevision and HBO. Today, Dolan controls Madison Square Garden Sports, MSG Networks, Madison Square Garden Entertainment, Madison ...
and based out of
WarnerMedia's former corporate headquarters at the
30 Hudson Yards
30 Hudson Yards (also the North Tower) is a supertall skyscraper in the West Side of Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Located near Hell's Kitchen, Chelsea, and the Penn Station area, the building is part of the Hudson Yards Redevelopmen ...
complex in the
West Side
West Side or Westside may refer to:
Places Canada
* West Side, a neighbourhood of Windsor, Ontario
* West Side, a neighbourhood of Vancouver, British Columbia
United Kingdom
* West Side, Lewis, Outer Hebrides, Scotland
* Westside, Birmingham E ...
of
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
, its main properties include its namesake
pay television
Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichannel television providers, b ...
network
Home Box Office (HBO)
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television, premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office busi ...
, sister service
Cinemax
Cinemax is an American pay television, cable, and satellite television network owned by the Home Box Office, Inc. subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. Developed as a companion "maxi-pay" service complementing the offerings shown on parent ...
,
HBO Films
HBO Films (formerly called HBO Premiere Films and HBO Pictures) is an American production and distribution company, a division of the cable television network HBO that produces feature films and miniseries. The division produces fiction and non- ...
, and the international
HBO Go
HBO Go is a partly-inactive authenticated video on demand of the pay television service HBO. The service allowed subscribers to HBO via television providers to access its programming on-demand via the HBO website, mobile apps, and digital medi ...
streaming service. (A secondary HBO-branded service,
HBO Max
HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Netw ...
, is operated under sister subsidiary Warner Bros. Discovery Global Streaming and Interactive Entertainment, which shares principal management with Home Box Office, Inc.) It has also licensed or maintained ownership interests in international versions of HBO and Cinemax, most of which are managed by Home Box Office, Inc. through sister division
Warner Bros. Discovery International.
The company has achieved several pioneering innovations in the
cable television
Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...
industry, including its satellite uplink of HBO as the first television network in the world to transmit through that technology, and the development of
original programming
Original programming (also called originals or original programs, and subcategorized as "original series", "original movies", "original documentaries" and "original specials") is a term used for in-house television, film or web series productions ...
for pay television.
History
Origins as Sterling Communications
HBO, Inc.'s origins trace to December 1, 1965, when
Charles Dolan
Charles Francis Dolan (born October 16, 1926) is an American billionaire businessman, best known as founder of Cablevision and HBO. Today, Dolan controls Madison Square Garden Sports, MSG Networks, Madison Square Garden Entertainment, Madison ...
—who had already done pioneering work in the commercial use of
cables—was granted a
franchise permit by the
New York City Council to build a cable television system encompassing the
Lower Manhattan section of New York City (traversing southward from
79th Street on the
Upper East Side
The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 96th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 59th Street to the south, and Central Park/Fifth Avenue to the wes ...
to
86th Street on the Upper West Side). Along with Dolan,
TelePrompTer Corporation
__notoc__
TelePrompTer Corporation was an American media company that existed from approximately 1950 until 1981. The company was named for its eponymous primary product, a display device invented by Hubert Schlafly which scrolls text to people o ...
(which was assigned most of
Upper Manhattan
Upper Manhattan is the most northern region of the New York City borough of Manhattan. Its southern boundary has been variously defined, but some of the most common usages are 96th Street, the northern boundary of Central Park (110th Street), ...
) and CATV Enterprises Inc. (which was assigned part of the city's
Upper West Side
The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper West ...
, extending north of the
Harlem River
The Harlem River is an tidal strait in New York, United States, flowing between the Hudson River and the East River and separating the island of Manhattan from the Bronx on the New York mainland.
The northern stretch, also called the Spuyt ...
, and
The Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
's
Riverdale neighborhood) were also awarded cable franchise permits on that date. Dolan's maiden television venture was Teleguide, a
closed-circuit television system started by his initial company, Sterling Movies U.S.A., in June 1962; it distributed a schedule of
tourist information
A visitor center or centre (see American and British English spelling differences), visitor information center, tourist information center, is a physical location that provides tourist information to visitors.
Types of visitor center
A visi ...
, news, interview segments and feature interstitials to hotels, and by 1964, apartment buildings and office buildings in the
New York metropolitan area
The New York metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the Tri-State area, is the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban landmass, at , and one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world. The vast metropolitan area ...
.
Through Dolan's Sterling Information Services subsidiary, Manhattan Cable TV Services began limited cable service in September 1966. Manhattan Cable (renamed Sterling Manhattan Cable Television in January 1971) was the first urban underground cable television system to operate in the United States. Rather than string up cable on
telephone poles
''Telephone Poles'' is the second book of poetry written by American writer John Updike.
Publication
The collection was published by Alfred A. Knopf, Knopf in 1963.
Reception
In ''The New York Times'', critic X.J. Kennedy wrote, "Of younger w ...
or use
microwave antennas to receive the signals, Sterling had laid new cable lines beneath the streets of and into buildings throughout Manhattan, and repurposed Teleguide's existing cable infrastructure for use by the new operation. Sterling's use of underground cables complied with a longstanding New York City Council ordinance—originally implemented to prevent broad-scale telephone and
telegraph
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...
outages, after a
severe blizzard affecting the
Northeastern United States in March 1888 had caused widespread damage to above-ground utility lines in the area—requiring all electrical and telecommunication wiring to be laid underground to limit weather-related service disruptions, and because the multitude of tall buildings on
Manhattan Island subjected television signals to reception impairments.
Dolan curried the financial backing of
Time-Life, Inc. (then the book publishing unit of
Time Inc.
Time Inc. was an American worldwide mass media corporation founded on November 28, 1922, by Henry Luce and Briton Hadden and based in New York City. It owned and published over 100 magazine brands, including its namesake ''Time'', ''Sports Illu ...
), resulting in Manhattan Cable becoming one of its first cable system properties. Despite the investments from Time-Life's share of Sterling (initially 20% at the beginning of operations), Sterling Manhattan consistently lost money throughout its first six years of operation; the company incurred much of its debt from underground wiring expenses (costing as much as $300,000 per mile), and its difficulties attracting new subscribers to generate income (Manhattan Cable managed to receive only around 400 customers by 1967).
On August 27, 1969, Sterling Communications consolidated ownership of the cable assets: it acquired Time-Life's 49% share in Sterling Manhattan, in exchange for stock and other assets worth $1.84 million. (Time-Life's interest in Sterling Communications concurrently increased from 25% to 44.5%.)
Dolan was looking for a way to help his struggling cable company grow to become financially viable. In the summer of 1971, during a family vacation to
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
aboard the
Queen Elizabeth 2, Dolan conceived "The Green Channel", a
codenamed concept for a cable-originated television channel that would be distributed via Sterling Manhattan and other participating cable systems. The proposed service would offer unedited theatrical movies licensed from the
major Hollywood film studios and live sporting events, all presented without interruptions by
advertising
Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...
and sold for a flat monthly fee to prospective subscribers. Dolan wanted to offset the service's start-up costs by having Sterling enter into carriage agreements with other cable television providers to transmit and sell the service to their customers, and draw revenue from fees charged to subscribers who added the channel onto their existing cable service (which then consisted exclusively of local and imported broadcast stations). Dolan later presented his idea to management at Time-Life, who, despite the potential benefit to the company's cable assets, were initially hesitant to consider the "Green Channel" proposal. In the early 1970s, the cable television industry was not very profitable, and was under constant scrutiny from FCC regulators and the major broadcast television networks (
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
,
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
and
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
), who saw cable as a threat to their viability. Attempts to launch pay television services had been done on an experimental basis in the United States dating to 1951 (among them,
Phonevision
Phonevision was a project by Zenith Radio Company to create the world's first pay television system. It was developed and first launched in Chicago, followed by further trials in New York City and Hartford, Connecticut.
History
Zenith had ex ...
in New York City,
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
and
Hartford
Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since t ...
; SubscriberVision in New York City;
Telemeter
Telemetry is the in situ collection of measurements or other data at remote points and their automatic transmission to receiving equipment (telecommunication) for monitoring. The word is derived from the Greek roots ''tele'', "remote", an ...
in
Palm Springs, California; and Telemovies in
Bartlesville, Oklahoma
Bartlesville is a city mostly in Washington County in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 37,290 at the 2020 census. Bartlesville is north of Tulsa and south of the Kansas border. It is the county seat of Washington County. The Ca ...
) with little to no success, muzzled by campaigns backed by movie theater chains and commercial broadcasters to assuage television viewers to the supposed threat of pay television to the movie industry and free-to-air television access, limited user interest, and FCC restrictions on the types of programming that could be offered to subscription services. Undeterred, Dolan managed to persuade Time-Life to assist him in backing the project.
After the Federal Communications Commission ruled that local governments could not restrict the operation of subscription television services in cable franchise terms, in July 1971, Sterling Communications—now consisting of Sterling Manhattan; its
Long Island-based sister system, Sterling Nassau Cable Television; production firm Allegro Films; and direct-to-cable programming firm Television Presentations Inc.—informed the FCC that it planned to operate a cable-originated pay television service. Because Sterling's New York City Council franchise grant specifically required FCC approval for that purpose, Time/Sterling filed an FCC request to authorize pay television operations. Sterling indicated that a subscription television operation would also help Sterling Manhattan fund its fledgling
local origination channel, which had incurred $1 million in start-up debt on top of annual company operating losses of $250,000. On September 10, 1971, the FCC gave preemptive authorization to Time-Life and Sterling Manhattan Cable to begin a pay television operation. On November 2, 1971, Time Inc.'s
board of directors approved the "Green Channel" proposal, agreeing to give Dolan a $150,000 development grant for the project.
Early history; dissolution of Sterling
![HBO Headquarters](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/HBO_Headquarters.jpg)
The namesake Home Box Office (HBO) pay television network was founded by Dolan—as a
joint venture
A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and economic risk, risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four rea ...
between Sterling Communications and its co-partner,
Time Life Broadcast Inc.—in 1972. The service—originally to have been called the "Sterling Cable Network", before Dolan and his development team settled on naming it "
Home Box Office", originally intended as a
placeholder name
Placeholder names are words that can refer to things or people whose names do not exist, are temporarily forgotten, are not relevant to the salient point at hand, are to avoid stigmatization, are unknowable/unpredictable in the context in wh ...
to meet publishing deadlines for the service's announcement memorandum and research brochures—launched on November 8, 1972, over Teleservice Cable (now
Service Electric
Service Electric is a group of affiliated cable television companies serving eastern Pennsylvania and western New Jersey. Service Electric also offers broadband Internet and telephone services through two partner companies, PenTeleData and Alianza ...
)'s
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Wilkes-Barre ( or ) is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Luzerne County. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in the 2020 census. It is the s ...
, system. Time Life originally planned for HBO to debut on a Teleservice system in
Allentown Allentown may refer to several places in the United States and topics related to them:
*Allentown, California, now called Toadtown, California
*Allentown, Georgia, a town in Wilkinson County
*Allentown, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Taze ...
, but, per an agreement with Teleservice president
John Walson, moved the launch system to the company's Wilkes-Barre system to avoid
blackouts of
NBA games (specifically those featuring the
Philadelphia 76ers, with which HBO was unable to materialize a television agreement to accompany its planned broadcasts of
New York Knicks games) that were scheduled to air on the service. Programming on HBO initially consisted of theatrical films and event programming (much of which was sourced to the service through an agreement with
Madison Square Garden that dated to 1969, and was extended to allow regional broadcasts one week before HBO launched), arranged in the form of a
double feature, or a single movie presentation paired with either a sports or special event (often bridged by a
short film
A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...
or other interstitial content); by 1974, when the service began offering programming during the l concert specials and other music programs, daytime children's programs and various instructional series were added to the schedule.
Originally headquartered from the
Time-Life Building
1271 Avenue of the Americas is a 48-story skyscraper on Sixth Avenue (Avenue of the Americas), between 50th and 51st Streets, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Designed by architect Wallace Harrison of Harrison, Ab ...
on
Avenue of the Americas (Sixth Avenue) in
Midtown Manhattan, HBO initially relayed its programming via a network of microwave relay towers throughout the
Northeastern United States to participating cable systems carrying the channel;
On February 28, 1973, Sterling Communications announced it would spin-out HBO and associated assets into Home Box Office, Inc., a new subsidiary created in accordance with the sale of 9% of Sterling's HBO equity to Time Inc. (expanding its controlling shares to around 75% of HBO's equity) and a $3-million direct investment. Sterling also raised Time's equity in the company to 66.4% in exchange for the added HBO stake, through the purchase of additional stock and a converted $6.4-million
note
Note, notes, or NOTE may refer to:
Music and entertainment
* Musical note, a pitched sound (or a symbol for a sound) in music
* ''Notes'' (album), a 1987 album by Paul Bley and Paul Motian
* ''Notes'', a common (yet unofficial) shortened version ...
obligation. Dolan—who reportedly had major disagreements with Time-Life management on policy issues, claims which the company denied—subsequently resigned as
chief executive officer
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...
of Sterling Communications and Home Box Office, accepting a $675,000 buyout of a portion of his stock while remaining on the
board of directors at both companies in the interim; Dolan used portions of the sale's proceeds to repurchase Time's share of the Sterling Nassau systems and to start the Long Island Cable Community Development Co. (the forerunner to
Cablevision Systems Corporation
Cablevision Systems Corporation was an American cable television company with systems serving areas surrounding New York City. It was the fifth-largest cable provider and ninth-largest television provider in the United States. Throughout its ex ...
, that would be combined with the Sterling/Cablevision systems on Long Island) as the system's parent company.
Gerald M. Levin—an entertainment industry attorney previously with New York City-based law firm
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP is an international white shoe law firm headquartered in New York City. The firm specializes in litigation and corporate practices, particularly mergers and acquisitions, with over 1,000 attorneys in 11 offices w ...
, who had been with Home Box Office since it began operations as its
director of finance, and later as its vice president and director of programming—replaced Dolan as the company's president and CEO; by September, he was joined by Time Life vice president J. Richard Munro as chairman of Home Box Office as well as Time-Life Broadcast's other subsidiaries, Manhattan Cable Television and
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
affiliate WOTV (now
WOOD-TV
WOOD-TV (channel 8) is a television station licensed to Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States, serving as the NBC affiliate for West Michigan. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside Battle Creek–licensed ABC affiliate WOTV (channel 41 ...
) in
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...
(which became the company's lone conventional broadcasting property, after Time sold its other broadcast television properties as it began expanding into cable system ownership).
On May 9, 1973, reportedly because of high start-up and operating costs for HBO and other Sterling cable assets, Time announced it would sell its controlling share of Sterling to
Warner Communications
Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States.
It was originally established in 1972 by ...
for $20 million. Time intended to convert the 260,000 convertible notes it held in Warner's cable television unit, Warner Cable Communications, into
common stock
Common stock is a form of corporate equity ownership, a type of security. The terms voting share and ordinary share are also used frequently outside of the United States. They are known as equity shares or ordinary shares in the UK and other Comm ...
shares totaling up to 20% in interest. Sterling would then maintain oversight of Home Box Office under Warner's purview.
The Time-Warner cable deal was terminated on June 27, after both companies failed to reach a definitive agreement to sell HBO and the other Sterling subsidiaries to Warner; financial arrangements made between Sterling and the New York City Council as part of their 20-year noncompete franchise agreement were alleged to have curtailed the sale.
On July 19, 1973, Time Inc. reached an agreement to purchase and assume financial liabilities of Sterling Communications for $6.2 million (including $3.1‐million in redeemed public debentures). Time completed its acquisition of Sterling on September 18, 1973, formally dissolving the Sterling holding company and transferring Home Box Office and Sterling Manhattan Cable to its Time-Life division. The "Sterling" name was subsequently removed from the Manhattan and Long Island systems, with the Manhattan unit being renamed "Manhattan Cable Television". (Time's purchase of Sterling was the subject of a $97-million
class action
A class action, also known as a class-action lawsuit, class suit, or representative action, is a type of lawsuit where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member or members of that group. The class actio ...
lawsuit filed in the
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on November 28, 1973, by 15 former Sterling stockholders who accused Time and its corporate board of "conspiracy" to depress the value of Sterling stock in order to "force" the sale at below market value "far less than its true value.")
As the acquisition was being completed, the service had struggled to grow to complete viability: by October, it had around 8,000 subscribers and was carried on 13 cable systems in Pennsylvania and southern
New York State
New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...
with a combined 110,095 subscribers,
and it was suffering from a significant
churn rate
Churn rate (sometimes called attrition rate), in its broadest sense, is a measure of the number of individuals or items moving out of a collective group over a specific period. It is one of two primary factors that determine the steady-state level ...
as subscribers who found the channel's program scheduling repetitive, because of the limited allotment of movies outside of special events, decided to cancel their service.
On April 11, 1975, Levin and Time-Life unveiled plans to distribute the HBO signal via satellite under a transponder leasing agreement with
RCA Americom Communications, intending to distribute its programming to cable systems and multipoint distribution services throughout the United States. Levin reached an agreement to distribute the HBO satellite feed on eight
UA-Columbia Cablevision systems in
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
,
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
,
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
,
Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
,
Arkansas
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...
and
Washington State
Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...
, and build
earth station
A ground station, Earth station, or Earth terminal is a terrestrial radio station designed for extraplanetary telecommunication with spacecraft (constituting part of the ground segment of the spacecraft system), or reception of radio waves fr ...
receivers to intercept and relay the signal to the UA-Columbia systems' headends. HBO also signed a $7.5-million agreement (including $6.5 million allocated by Levin) with RCA Americom to lease a
transponder
In telecommunications, a transponder is a device that, upon receiving a signal, emits a different signal in response. The term is a blend of ''transmitter'' and ''responder''.
In air navigation or radio frequency identification, a flight trans ...
on the then-under construction
Satcom I, which was expected to be launched at the end of 1975, for a five-year term. Cable television equipment manufacturer
Scientific Atlanta
Scientific Atlanta, Inc. was a Georgia, United States-based manufacturer of cable television, telecommunications, and broadband equipment. Scientific Atlanta was founded in 1951 by a group of engineers from the Georgia Institute of Technology, a ...
(through a client arrangement with Transcommunications Corp.) also intended to build earth-based satellite transmitting stations for setup outside of HBO's Manhattan headquarters and at the headend sites of the client cable systems that reached agreements to receive the signal ahead of the satellite launch.
HBO began continuously transmitting via satellite on September 30, 1975, for the broadcast of the "
Thrilla in Manila"
heavyweight championship boxing
Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...
match between
Muhammad Ali and
Joe Frazier from the
Araneta Coliseum
The Araneta Coliseum, also currently known by naming rights sponsorship as Smart Araneta Coliseum, is an indoor multi-purpose sports arena that is part of the Araneta City in the Cubao area of Quezon City, Philippines. Nicknamed as "the Big Do ...
in
Cubao
Quezon City (, ; fil, Lungsod Quezon ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read in Filipino as Kyusi), is the most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 2,960,048 people. It was fou ...
,
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
. The broadcast that marked the television industry innovation was received by
UA-Columbia Cablevision's
Fort Pierce
Fort Pierce is a city in and the county seat of St. Lucie County, Florida, United States. The city is part of the Treasure Coast region of Atlantic Coast Florida. It is also known as the Sunrise City, sister to San Francisco, California, the Suns ...
and
Vero Beach
Vero Beach is a city in and the seat of Indian River County, Florida, United States. Vero Beach is the second most populous city in Indian River County. Abundant in beaches and wildlife, Vero Beach is located on Florida's Treasure Coast. It is thi ...
,
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
, systems, and American Television and Communications Corporation's
Jackson
Jackson may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name
Places
Australia
* Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region
* Jackson North, Qu ...
,
Mississippi
Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
system, alongside systems already receiving HBO via microwave beforehand in the northeastern U.S. The service temporarily retransmitted its signal from transponder on
Westar 1
Westar 1 was America's first domestic and commercially launched geostationary communications satellite, launched by Western Union (WU) and NASA on April 13, 1974. It was built by Hughes for Western Union, using the HS-333 platform of spin-s ...
for the first three months of satellite transmissions, before switching to Satcom I when that satellite commenced commercial operations on February 1, 1976.
It also gradually turned around the fortunes of HBO: at the time Time-Life, Inc. bought the remaining interest of the channel in September 1973, HBO's subscribership amassed only 8,000 customers across 14 Pennsylvania cable systems
and was hampered by significant
churn rate
Churn rate (sometimes called attrition rate), in its broadest sense, is a measure of the number of individuals or items moving out of a collective group over a specific period. It is one of two primary factors that determine the steady-state level ...
as some subscribers cancelled their service because of the repetitive scheduling of programming. By 1980, HBO was carried on cable and
MMDS providers in all 50 U.S. states, with more than three million subscribers nationwide.
Other cable channels followed HBO's footsteps in satellite distribution; in December 1976,
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
independent station WTCG-TV—now WBD-owned basic cable service
TBS, and owned by
Ted Turner
Robert Edward "Ted" Turner III (born November 19, 1938) is an American entrepreneur, television producer, media proprietor, and philanthropist. He founded the Cable News Network (CNN), the first 24-hour cable news channel. In addition, he fo ...
at the time it went national—became the first television broadcaster to transmit via satellite as a basic cable service, pioneering the "
superstation" concept (non-network-affiliated television stations that transmit on a regional or national basis primarily through cable). This, along with the
CBN Satellite Service
The American cable television, cable and satellite television network that is now known as Freeform (TV channel), Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through several different owners (and s ...
(now
Freeform) launching by satellite in April 1977—pioneered the development of basic cable, using HBO's blueprint of utilizing satellite delivery for the cable television industry.
In May 1976, Gerald Levin was promoted to chairman and CEO of Home Box Office Inc., succeeded as company president by Manhattan Cable president Nicholas "N.J." Nicholas Jr.
Home Box Office v. FCC; acquisition of Telemation
The ability of Home Box Office and other pay television services to offer a wide array of content was challenged on March 20, 1975, when the
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...
(FCC) updated its pay-cable regulations to modify anti-siphoning regulations that further limited the operations of HBO and other movie- and sports-based cable services (including local and regional subscription television operations). Under the regulations, cable-originated services could not devote more than 90% of their programming schedule to theatrical motion pictures and sporting events, and could not broadcast movies released within three years of their initial theatrical exhibition. Specific sporting events (such as annual tournaments) could not be "siphoned off" by cable services if such events had been televised on broadcast television within the past five years, and regular season games involving major sports leagues was limited to allow a proportion of games to continue to be shown on broadcast television or else cable programmers would be required to limit their sports programming proportionately should over-the-air sports telecasts decline. On November 3, Home Box Office Inc., Manhattan Cable Television, five other cable television system operators (American Television and Communications Corp.,
Viacode,
UA-Columbia Cablevision,
Warner Cable Communications and
TelePrompTer Corp.) and competing pay-cable programming operator Theatrevision filed a joint appeal to the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, alleging the rules violated
antitrust statues by inhibiting competition, exceeded FCC authority and violated cable programmers'
First Amendment
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...
rights by regulating their access to content. (Network executives,
National Association of Broadcasters officials and other broadcast industry representatives also were critical of the rules as administrative record did not support FCC allegations of content "siphoning" by cable-originated services.
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
and
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
, however, requested re-consideration of an increase to the minimum period of exclusive broadcast exhibition of movies from two years to three.) Earlier in 1975, the film exhibition rules prevented HBO from licensing two
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
films released well outside the two-year window, ''
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'' (1969) and ''
The Sound of Music
''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, ''The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. S ...
'' (1965).
Though rules for movies and sports were tightened, the FCC conversely drafted relaxed rules limiting pay television services from airing a television series unless it has had no prior conventional television broadcast, suggesting allowing pay services to carry series not purchased by broadcast outlets, under contract to a local station in any
media market
A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television and radio station offerings, and may also incl ...
, not shown on broadcast television for at least three years or with 50 episodes or less to be available for pay syndication. However, cable programmers and the
Motion Picture Association of America
The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distrib ...
petitioned for the rules to be eliminated. The initial joint appeal and a separate objections by the
U.S. Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...
and
Metromedia
Metromedia (also often MetroMedia) was an American media company that owned radio and television stations in the United States from 1956 to 1986 and controlled Orion Pictures from 1988 to 1997. Metromedia was established in 1956 after the DuMon ...
were consolidated by the Court of Appeals into ''Home Box Office v. Federal Communications Commission''.
On June 24, 1976, Home Box Office Inc. reached an in-principle agreement to purchase Telemation Program Services, a supplier of programming from individual program distributors to pay-cable systems. HBO sought Telemation to extend the channel's distribution to the 180,000 subscribers (across 40 cable systems) to which the company provided content distribution; theoretically, this would allow Telemation to accommodate a custom feed of HBO to a system owner that declined to offer the service (such as for objections to carry R-rated movies). (Telemation later merged with a separate program marketing unit formed in April 1979, HBO Program Services, in 1980.)
On March 29, 1977, the District of Columbia Appeals Court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in ''Home Box Office v. FCC'', overturning cable television anti-siphoning rules. (Similar rules applying to over-the-air pay television were affirmed in the ruling.) The 105-page decision held that the FCC trespassed on the First Amendment rights of cable operators, pointing that cable bandwidth was not a scarce resource and therefore, was not subject to limitations affirmed in the
Supreme Court's 1969 ''
Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. FCC'' ruling (which upheld equal time provisions in the
Fairness Doctrine
The fairness doctrine of the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC), introduced in 1949, was a policy that required the holders of broadcast licenses both to present controversial issues of public importance and to do so in a mann ...
). The court applied the
O'Brien test
''United States v. O'Brien'', 391 U.S. 367 (1968), was a List of landmark court decisions in the United States, landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court, ruling that a criminal prohibition against Draft-card burning, burning a draft c ...
(determining the FCC had failed two of its four "prongs" or standards) and found that the degree of limitation of free speech imposed by the FCC was inadequate, "grossly overboard" and thereby "arbitrary, capricious and unconstitutional" to the rights of pay-cable telecasters. The decision gave free rein for Home Box Office and other pay cable services to acquire movie and sports rights without restriction, opening the door for services like HBO to engage in library content agreements for older films and, more broadly, the ability of cable-originated services to acquire a broad spectrum of sporting events (albeit with league-determined protections to ensure events are distributed on both broadcast and cable networks). A subsequent appeal decision by the U.S. Supreme Court on October 3, 1977, affirmed the ruling by refusing to review the District of Columbia Appeals Court's overturning of the pay-cable rules.
Early expansion; challenges to indecency statutes
As the HBO television service was growing nationally, Time-Life tried to develop companion pay services to sell to prospective subscribers, including existing HBO customers. Home Box Office's first attempt at a secondary service was Take 2, a movie channel marketed at a family audience that launched in April 1979. The "mini-pay" service (a smaller-scale pay television channel sold at a discounted rate) tried to cater to cable subscribers reluctant to subscribe to HBO because of its cost and potentially objectionable content in some programs. Take 2, however, was hampered by a slow subscriber and carriage growth, forcing Time-Life to shut down the channel in May 1980.
HBO executives then decided to develop a lower-cost "maxi-pay" service: on May 18, 1980, Home Box Office Inc. announced during that year's
National Cable Television Association
NCTA – The Internet & Television Association (formerly the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, and commonly known as the NCTA) is the principal trade association for the U.S. broadband and pay television industries. It represents ...
Convention its plans to launch
Cinemax
Cinemax is an American pay television, cable, and satellite television network owned by the Home Box Office, Inc. subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. Developed as a companion "maxi-pay" service complementing the offerings shown on parent ...
, a companion movie channel designed as a direct competitor to
The Movie Channel
The Movie Channel (TMC) is an American premium television network owned by Showtime Networks, a subsidiary of Paramount Global operated through its Media Networks unit. The network's programming mainly features first-run theatrically released ...
(then owned by
Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment
Paramount Media Networks (formerly known as Warner Cable Communications, Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, MTV Networks, Viacom Media Networks, and ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks) is an American mass media division of Paramount Global tha ...
, part-owned by Warner Bros. Discovery predecessor Warner Communications) initially focused on movies chosen for their appeal to select audience demographics. Cinemax was designed to complement HBO (designated as a higher-tier "foundation
remiumservice"), and avoid difficulties associated with bundling multiple "foundation" pay services. Cinemax launched over 56 cable systems in the
Eastern
Eastern may refer to:
Transportation
*China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai
*Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways
*Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991
*Eastern Air Li ...
and
Central Time Zone
The North American Central Time Zone (CT) is a time zone in parts of Canada, the United States, Mexico, Central America, some Caribbean Islands, and part of the Eastern Pacific Ocean.
Central Standard Time (CST) is six hours behind Coordina ...
s on August 1, 1980. (A West Coast feed for the
Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...
and
Mountain Time Zone
The Mountain Time Zone of North America keeps time by subtracting seven hours from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) when standard time ( UTC−07:00) is in effect, and by subtracting six hours during daylight saving time ( UTC−06:00). The ...
s launched on September 1.) Compared to Take 2, Cinemax experienced far greater success because it relied on classic feature films from the 1930s to the 1970s, mixed with some more recent films, incidentally benefiting from the limited
headend channel capacity offered by cable systems and customer demand for uncut broadcasts of theatrical movies. HBO traditionally marketed Cinemax to cable operators for sale to subscribers as part of a singular premium bundle with HBO, available at a discount if electing to subscribe to both channels. As Cinemax evolved, it expanded into non-film programming content, including music specials, some limited original and acquired programming (such as ''
SCTV Channel'' and ''
Max Headroom
Max Headroom is a fictional artificial intelligence (AI) character portrayed by actor Matt Frewer. Advertised as "the first computer-generated TV presenter", Max was known for his biting commentary on a variety of topical issues, arrogant wit, ...
'') and, most notably, late-night
softcore pornographic films and series; the adult programming—initially offered as part of the "Friday After Dark"
block
Block or blocked may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting
* Block programming, the result of a programming strategy in broadcasting
* W242BX, a radio station licensed to Greenville, South Carolina, United States known as ''96.3 ...
, eventually expanding to all seven nights by the start of the 1990s—became a key draw for Cinemax subscribers, and the main association with the channel in
pop culture. Pornographic adult programming on began to be de-emphasized from the linear Cinemax and HBO Zone channels' late-night programming in 2011, as part of the former's refocusing toward its mainstream feature films and a then-emerging slate of original action series, and was removed entirely from Home Box Office's linear and on-demand platforms in 2018.
The 1980s also saw HBO join three separate
lawsuits concerning municipal and state-level statutes that would have
legally prohibited cable systems from transmitting "indecent" content—specifically, programs that featured descriptions of or depicted "illicit" sexual acts and/or nudity—which Home Box Office Inc. and cable systems that challenged the laws saw as overbroad and in violation of the First Amendment, and would have precluded HBO and other pay television networks from airing programs containing material that may be considered inappropriate.
Two of these involved statutes in
Utah
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
: HBO and four Utah cable systems sought a permanent injunction to a 1981 statute passed by the
Utah State Legislature
The Utah State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Utah. It is a bicameral body, comprising the Utah House of Representatives, with 75 state representatives, and the Utah Senate, with 29 state senators. There are no term li ...
to restrict indecent cable program content, which was granted by the
U.S. District Court for the District of Utah
The United States District Court for the District of Utah (in case citations, D. Utah) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of Utah. The court is based in Salt Lake City with another courtroom leased in thstate courtho ...
Judge
Bruce S. Jenkins on November 17, 1981; the statute was declared unconstitutional as a violation of the First and
14th Amendments in a separate ruling by Jenkins on January 13, 1982. A second attempt at addressing obscene cable programming, the Cable Television Programming Decency Act, was declared unconstitutional on First Amendment grounds by Utah District Court Senior District Judge
Aldon J. Anderson on April 10, 1985, in a case filed by HBO, Community Television of Utah and several viewer groups; a modified form of the statute was ruled as a violation of the First Amendment by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals on September 10, 1985, and affirmed as unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court on March 23, 1987, formally asserting that the subscriber-based model of cable television precluded programming content from being regulated in the same manner as broadcast television. A separate city ordinance in
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...
that would have allowed the revocation of Miami Cablevision (now operated by Comcast)'s franchise license for carrying programs that the
city manager deemed "obscene or indecent" was struck down by Judge
William Hoeveler of the
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida
The United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida (in case citations, S.D. Fla. or S.D. Fl.) is the federal United States district court with territorial jurisdiction over the southern part of the state of Florida..
Appeal ...
on August 3, 1983, on the grounds outlined in Jenkins' ruling, and affirmed by the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit on April 10, 1985.
On September 27, 1984, Home Box Office Inc. announced it would acquire a 15% equity share in
Black Entertainment Television (BET)
Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los ...
, which would be accumulated under a "contribution" arrangement in which BET will stop paying a monthly lease to the transponder that HBO had then leased to BET until the accumulated lease amount matches what the latter would have paid fellow minority shareholders
Taft Television & Radio Company and
Tele-Communications Inc.
Tele-Communications, Inc. (TCI) was a cable television provider in the United States, and for most of its history was controlled by Bob Magness and John Malone.
The company was started in 1958 in Bozeman, Montana as Western Microwave, Inc. and Co ...
BET repurchased all of Time Warner's stock in April 1996 in a $58-million transaction. In 1985, the operations of Home Box Office Inc. were relocated to facilities on West 42nd Street and Sixth Avenue in the
Bryant Park
Bryant Park is a public park located in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Privately managed, it is located between Fifth Avenue and Avenue of the Americas ( Sixth Avenue) and between 40th and 42nd Streets in Midtown Manhattan. The e ...
district of Midtown Manhattan.
Home video, production and television ventures
Film and television production
Home Box Office, Inc. began diversifying its portfolio beyond cable television during the 1980s. In 1982, HBO entered into a joint venture with
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...
and
CBS Theatrical Films
CBS Theatrical Films, also as CBS Theatrical Films Group, was the film production branch of the U.S. television network, CBS, which was active from 1979 to 1985.
CBS was also a partner in TriStar Pictures, which started as a joint venture with Col ...
to form
Tri-Star Pictures
TriStar Pictures, Inc. (spelled as Tri-Star until 1991) is an American film studio and production company that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, part of the multinational conglomerate Sony. It is a corporate sibling of Sony ...
(the
hyphen
The hyphen is a punctuation mark used to join words and to separate syllables of a single word. The use of hyphens is called hyphenation. ''Son-in-law'' is an example of a hyphenated word. The hyphen is sometimes confused with dashes ( figure ...
in the name was removed in 1991), to pool resources to split the ever-growing costs of making feature films. The studio's first production,
Kevin Costner
Kevin Michael Costner (born January 18, 1955) is an American actor, producer, film director and musician. He has received various accolades, including two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Screen Actor ...
-led ''
The Natural
''The Natural'' is a 1952 novel about baseball by Bernard Malamud, and is his debut novel. The story follows Roy Hobbs, a baseball prodigy whose career is sidetracked after being shot by a woman whose motivation remains mysterious. The story mo ...
'', was released in 1984. Tri-Star entered into the television production business, in April 1987, with the formation of
Tri-Star Television. Towards the second half of the decade, the partnership transitioned into a singularly owned entity: CBS sold its ownership stake in the studio in November 1985, followed by HBO/Time Inc. in December 1986. HBO transferred its venture shares to
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...
, which integrated Columbia and Tri-Star into the umbrella company Columbia Pictures Entertainment. (, TriStar operates exclusively as a film production arm of
Sony Pictures Entertainment. Its television unit was merged with
Columbia Pictures Television
Columbia Pictures Television, Inc. (abbreviated as CPT) was launched on May 6, 1974, by Columbia Pictures as an American television production and distribution studio. It is the second name of the Columbia Pictures television division Screen Gem ...
and joint venture studio
Columbia TriStar Television
Columbia TriStar Television, Inc. (abbreviated as CTT) was an American television production and distribution company that was active from 1994 to 2002. It was operated as the third name of the early television studio Screen Gems and the fourth ...
in 2002 to form
Sony Pictures Television
Sony Pictures Television Inc. (abbreviated as SPT) is an American television production and distribution studio. Based at the Sony Pictures Studios complex in Culver City, it is a division of Sony Entertainment's unit Sony Pictures Entertainme ...
).
Film production for the HBO television service commenced in 1983, through the formation of HBO Premiere Films, which was originally developed to produce original
made-for-cable movies and
miniseries with higher budgets and production values compared to other television films. The film division began producing original movies for the network in 1983 with the debut of ''
The Terry Fox Story
''The Terry Fox Story'' is a 1983 Canadian-American biographical film of Canadian amputee and runner Terry Fox. It was written by Howard Hume, John Kastner and Rose Kastner, and directed by Ralph L. Thomas. The film stars Eric Fryer as Fox, C ...
'', a
biographical film on the
amputee runner who embarked on a cross-country run across his home country of
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
that was cut short by the advanced-stage
osteosarcoma
An osteosarcoma (OS) or osteogenic sarcoma (OGS) (or simply bone cancer) is a cancerous tumor in a bone. Specifically, it is an aggressive malignant neoplasm that arises from primitive transformed cells of mesenchymal origin (and thus a sarcoma ...
that ended his life through associated complications soon afterward. Differing from most television films produced for cable television, most of the original movies produced by HBO have featured major film actors over the years, ranging from
James Stewart to
Michael Douglas
Michael Kirk Douglas (born September 25, 1944) is an American actor and film producer. He has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and the A ...
. The unit—which would be rechristened HBO Pictures in 1984—expanded beyond its telefilm slate, which was scaled back, ventured into independent film production. In 1985, HBO made a co-financing agreement with Orion Pictures in order to finance ''
Three Amigos!'', in order to receive half of the film's planned budget. When HBO Pictures was formed, HBO entered into a
limited partnership with
Thorn EMI
Thorn(s) or The Thorn(s) may refer to:
Botany
* Thorns, spines, and prickles, sharp structures on plants
* ''Crataegus monogyna'', or common hawthorn, a plant species
Comics and literature
* Rose and Thorn, the two personalities of two DC Comi ...
to form
Silver Screen Partners
Silver Screen Partners refers to four limited partnerships organized as an alternative funding source for film production originally formed by American investor Roland W. Betts as a collaboration with cable television network HBO in 1983. The m ...
. The first L.P. of its kind to be developed for the financing of feature film production, Silver Screen released only seven films between 1983 and 1986—most of which were not commercial or critical successes, with the minor exception of the 1985 comedy film ''
Volunteers
Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...
''.
A secondary internal film production unit, HBO Showcase, was created in 1986 to focus primarily on high-quality drama productions. One of its productions, 1989's ''
Age Old Friends'', became the unit's first film to earn Primetime Emmy Awards, respectively for
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie (
Hume Cronyn
Hume Blake Cronyn Jr. OC (July 18, 1911 – June 15, 2003) was a Canadian-American actor and writer.
Early life
Cronyn, one of five children, was born in London, Ontario, Canada. His father, Hume Blake Cronyn, Sr., was a businessman and ...
) and
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie (
Vincent Gardenia
Vincent Gardenia (born Vincenzo Scognamiglio; January 7, 1920 – December 9, 1992) was an Italian-American stage, film, and television actor. He was nominated twice for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, first for ''Bang the Drum Slow ...
). In January 1996, HBO Showcase was superseded by HBO NYC Productions, a New York-based studio focusing primarily on HBO original movies as well as occasional drama series productions for the network. Time Warner consolidated HBO Pictures and HBO NYC Productions into a singular unit,
HBO Films
HBO Films (formerly called HBO Premiere Films and HBO Pictures) is an American production and distribution company, a division of the cable television network HBO that produces feature films and miniseries. The division produces fiction and non- ...
, in October 1999; since then, the division has expanded into theatrical film productions distributed by sister company Warner Bros. Pictures and its subsidiaries, in addition to continuing to produce HBO's slate of original movies. In 1987, HBO entered into another limited partnership to create Cinema Plus L.P. The studios' most notable film is ''
Ricochet
A ricochet ( ; ) is a rebound, bounce, or skip off a surface, particularly in the case of a projectile. Most ricochets are caused by accident and while the force of the deflection decelerates the projectile, it can still be energetic and almost ...
'' (a co-production with
Silver Pictures
Silver Pictures is an American film production company founded by Hollywood producer Joel Silver in 1980. The Silver Pictures logo, also called The Chip, is modeled on a block pattern that Frank Lloyd Wright designed for the exteriors of the St ...
), with other titles produced throughout Cinema Plus' existence including ''
Mom and Dad Save the World
''Mom and Dad Save the World'' is a 1992 American science fiction film, science fiction comedy film directed by Greg Beeman. Jon Lovitz plays Emperor Tod Spengo, who is the cruel, silly, and over-dramatic emperor of the planet named Spengo. Teri ...
'', ''
Switch
In electrical engineering, a switch is an electrical component that can disconnect or connect the conducting path in an electrical circuit, interrupting the electric current or diverting it from one conductor to another. The most common type of ...
'' and ''
Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead
''Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead'' is a 1991 American coming-of-age black comedy film directed by Stephen Herek, written by Neil Landau and Tara Ison, and starring Christina Applegate, Joanna Cassidy, Keith Coogan, John Getz and Josh Char ...
''. All of the films—none of which were critical or commercial successes—were released in 1991 and 1992, and were distributed by HBO sister company
Warner Bros. Pictures
Warner Bros. Pictures is an American film production and distribution company of the Warner Bros. Pictures Group division of Warner Bros. Entertainment (both ultimately owned by Warner Bros. Discovery). The studio is the flagship producer of ...
.
Home Box Office, Inc. entered into television production outside of the flagship HBO channel in 1988, with the formation of HBO Downtown Productions. In addition to handling the production of comedy specials for HBO, the channel produced program content for Comedy Central (such as ''
Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher
''Political correctness'' (adjectivally: ''politically correct''; commonly abbreviated ''PC'') is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in socie ...
'' and ''
Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist
''Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist'' is an American adult animated sitcom that ran on Comedy Central from May 28, 1995 to February 13, 2002. The series starred the voice talents of Jonathan Katz, H. Jon Benjamin, and Laura Silverman. The show w ...
''). A secondary television production unit, HBO Independent Productions (HIP), was formed in October 1990. The Los Angeles-based production company specialized in television series and specials for broadcast, cable and syndicated television as well as lower-budget theatrical films. Throughout its 16-year existence, HIP primarily produced sitcoms for broadcast television and basic cable networks (including ''
Martin Martin may refer to:
Places
* Martin City (disambiguation)
* Martin County (disambiguation)
* Martin Township (disambiguation)
Antarctica
* Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land
* Port Martin, Adelie Land
* Point Martin, South Orkney Islands
Austr ...
'', ''
Roc'', ''
The Ben Stiller Show
''The Ben Stiller Show'' is an American sketch comedy series that aired on MTV from 1990 to 1991, and then on Fox from September 27, 1992, to January 17, 1993. The Fox program starred Ben Stiller, Andy Dick, Janeane Garofalo and Bob Odenkirk. ...
'' and ''
Everybody Loves Raymond
''Everybody Loves Raymond'' is an American sitcom television series created by Philip Rosenthal that aired on CBS from September 13, 1996, to May 16, 2005, with a total of 210 episodes spanning nine seasons. It was produced by Where's Lunch an ...
'').
Home video
During the early 1980s, HBO had an agreement with
Vestron Video
Vestron Video was the main subsidiary of Vestron, Inc., a home video company based in Stamford, Connecticut, that was active from 1981 to 1993, and is considered to have been a pioneer in the home video market.
The name is now used for a collect ...
to distribute some of HBO's made-for-cable films and specials (such as ''The Terry Fox Story''); Vestron had been created by former HBO executive Austin Furst, who had been assigned to dismantle the assets of Time-Life Films.
On February 21, 1984, HBO launched its own home video unit, either as a subsidiary or joint venture, with options considering included either
Vestron Video
Vestron Video was the main subsidiary of Vestron, Inc., a home video company based in Stamford, Connecticut, that was active from 1981 to 1993, and is considered to have been a pioneer in the home video market.
The name is now used for a collect ...
or
Thorn EMI Video as its own joint venture prospects.
In November 1984, as the broader entertainment industry began to drop their objections to and begin releasing their films through the then-burgeoning
home video
Home video is prerecorded media sold or rented for home viewing. The term originates from the VHS and Betamax era, when the predominant medium was videotapes, but has carried over to optical disc formats such as DVD, Blu-ray and streaming me ...
marketplace, HBO signed a partnership with the
home entertainment unit of Thorn EMI to form Thorn EMI/HBO Video to distribute independent films and HBO-produced programming. Thorn EMI signed distribution agreements with various mid-level and independent film production companies (such as
Orion Pictures and
New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema is an American film production studio owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and is a film label of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye as an independent film distribution company; later becoming a film studio after ...
) that did not have their own home video units.
In August 1986,
Cannon Films
The Cannon Group, Inc. was an American group of companies, including Cannon Films, which produced films from 1967 to 1994. The extensive group also owned, amongst others, a large international cinema chain and a video film company that invested ...
acquired Thorn EMI's interest in Thorn EMI/HBO Video, inherited from Thorn EMI Screen Entertainment, which Time Inc. subsequently renamed HBO/Cannon Video upon transferring partial ownership of the unit. In September 1986, HBO had signed home video and pay cable television rights to product produced by
Kings Road Entertainment
Kings or King's may refer to:
*Monarchs: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations, with the male being kings
*One of several works known as the "Book of Kings":
**The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts
**The ''Shahnameh'' ...
for $65–70 million, and eight pictures will be covered under the agreement, extending through 1988, with home video rights assigned by itself to HBO/Cannon.
On November 12, 1986,
Sports Illustrated
''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twi ...
, a co-owned property of
Time Inc.
Time Inc. was an American worldwide mass media corporation founded on November 28, 1922, by Henry Luce and Briton Hadden and based in New York City. It owned and published over 100 magazine brands, including its namesake ''Time'', ''Sports Illu ...
and HBO/Cannon Video had inked a home video pact whereas HBO would produce videocassette versions of material that was originated by Sports Illustrated, with the launch titles that cost $20, which was pitched to the sell-through market and the run time would be 30–45 minutes, depending on the length of the Sports Illustrated video tape.
On November 26, 1986, HBO/Cannon Video had inked an agreement with
De Laurentiis Entertainment Group
De Laurentiis Entertainment Group (DEG) was an entertainment production company and distribution studio founded by Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis. The company is notable for producing '' Manhunter'', '' Blue Velvet'', the horror films ''Ne ...
for the exclusive home video and pay television rights to DEG's feature films between May 1987 and 1990 for a three-year pact, becoming the largest ever for their home video agreement, supplanting the 15-picture pact between HBO/Cannon and Orion Pictures, with films budgeted in the $9–9.6 million range.
On December 17, 1986, HBO/Cannon paid
Carolco Pictures
Carolco Pictures, Inc. was an American independent film studio that existed from 1976 to 1995, founded by Mario Kassar and Andrew G. Vajna. Kassar and Vajna ran Carolco together until 1989, when Vajna left to form Cinergi Pictures. Carolco h ...
$43 million to bring back a pair of films, namely ''
Angel Heart
''Angel Heart'' is a 1987 American neo-noir psychological horror film, an adaptation of William Hjortsberg's 1978 novel ''Falling Angel''. The film was written and directed by Alan Parker, and stars Mickey Rourke, Robert De Niro, Lisa Bonet, an ...
'' and ''
Extreme Prejudice'' back to the production company, which then relicensed the home video rights to the two films passed by HBO/Cannon to
International Video Entertainment
Artisan Entertainment (formerly known as U.S.A. Home Video, International Video Entertainment (IVE) and LIVE Entertainment) was an American film studio and home video company. It was considered one of the largest mini-major film studios until ...
, of which Carolco had a controlling interest in the IVE video distributor. In late December 1986, plans for over 23 films programming on the Cannon side of the video label, such as ''
Masters of the Universe'' and ''
Surrender
Surrender may refer to:
* Surrender (law), the early relinquishment of a tenancy
* Surrender (military), the relinquishment of territory, combatants, facilities, or armaments to another power
Film and television
* ''Surrender'' (1927 film), an ...
'', were bought back by Cannon, which was re-licensed to
Warner Home Video
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the home video distribution division of Warner Bros.
It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Vide ...
, in order to earn a $75 million agreement using loans funded by financer
Alan Bond.
HBO acquired Cannon's interest in the venture in April 1987, amid financial losses incurred by the film studio after an unsuccessful attempt at releasing a series of larger budget films that floundered in box office revenue; the unit was subsequently renamed HBO Video.
On April 22, 1987, HBO will fed its own video pipeline with at least eight (or 12) films resulting from a five-year co-production agreement with producer
ITC Entertainment
The Incorporated Television Company (ITC), or ITC Entertainment as it was referred to in the United States, was a British company involved in production and distribution of television programmes.
History Incorporated Television Programme Compan ...
, and the whole overall package is worth $55 million, with budgets on each film would surpass $4.5 million, and domestic home video rights to the titles will go to a partner producing the particular program, thus HBO automatically has eight of them right off the bat, and gave HBO all pay cable rights in the U.S. and ITC all foreign rights and all free TV rights to the films.
The following week, on April 29, 1987, HBO Video decided to push rental releases to increase the wholesale action, which included the ''Three for the Money'' rental-driven campaign to hype the June release of ''
Hannah and Her Sisters'', July's release of ''
Something Wild'' and August's release of ''
Three Amigos
''Three Amigos'' (stylized as ''¡Three Amigos!'') is a 1986 American Western comedy film directed by John Landis, written by Lorne Michaels, Steve Martin, and Randy Newman (who also wrote the film's songs), and starring Chevy Chase, Steve M ...
'', and spent $2 million on the campaign including $1 million in TV to support the $89.95 titles. That year, the company made a complicated situation that they would release the initial editions of two of the most popular
Hemdale Film Corporation
Hemdale Film Corporation, known as Hemdale Communications after 1992, was an independent American-British film production company and distributor. The company was founded in London in 1967 as the Hemdale Company by actor David Hemmings and John D ...
titles from 1986, including ''
Hoosiers'' and ''
Platoon
A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two or more squads, sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the branch, but a platoon can be composed of 50 people, although specific platoons may rang ...
'', which was subsequently sued by
Vestron Video
Vestron Video was the main subsidiary of Vestron, Inc., a home video company based in Stamford, Connecticut, that was active from 1981 to 1993, and is considered to have been a pioneer in the home video market.
The name is now used for a collect ...
for allegedly claiming it, and decided that the judge ordered HBO to recall all rental video cassettes of ''
Hoosiers'' that was to be on the market since September 1987.
Over time, HBO Video—which eventually became HBO Home Video in January 1994—shifted focus away from releasing films from independent studios to releasing HBO's catalog of original programs and films on DVD and Blu-ray Disc.
In addition, HBO Video also entered into various licensing deals with distributors such as Congress Video, Goodtimes Home Video, and Video Treasures to distribute and re-issue HBO's content catalogs. The unit—renamed HBO Home Entertainment on September 5, 2009—eventually transferred the manufacturing of physical products to
Warner Home Video
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the home video distribution division of Warner Bros.
It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Vide ...
.
Expansion of television service
On April 1, 1986, HBO commenced test-marketing of a new mini-pay service,
Festival
A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival ...
, to six American Television and Communications Corporation systems.
Festival was targeted at older cable subscribers who objected to violent and sexual content on other pay cable services, non-cable television viewers, and basic cable subscribers that had no existing premium service subscription.
Festival ceased operations on December 31, 1988; HBO cited headend channel capacity limitations for the closure, as it prevented Festival from expanding its distribution.
On January 2, 1989, Selecciones en Español de HBO y Cinemax ("''Spanish Selections from HBO and Cinemax''"), a Spanish-language audio feed transmitted through, depending on the cable system affiliate, either an auxiliary
second audio program
Second audio program (SAP), also known as secondary audio programming, is an auxiliary audio channel for analog television that can be broadcast or transmitted both over-the-air and by cable television. Used mostly for audio description or oth ...
channel (accessible through built-in and external multichannel audio decoders) or
audio simulcasts via FM radio, launched. The service originally offered Spanish audio simulcasts of recent feature film releases from HBO and Cinemax's movie suppliers, and by Spring, added audio simulcasts of HBO's live boxing matches (except for certain events broadcast exclusively in Spanish on networks such as
Galavisión
Galavisión is an American Spanish-language pay television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. The network is unrelated to the earlier Mexican channel of the same name, though both broadcast Televisa-produced programming.
As of February 2015 ...
).
Selecciones was replaced by two dedicated Spanish feeds of the two services, HBO en Español and Cinemax en Español, on September 27, 1993; both channels acted as part-time simulcast feeds with added first-run Spanish-language movies (mostly from
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
,
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
and
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
), and Spanish dubs of HBO's non-sports-event original programming.
Time-Warner merger
On March 4, 1989,
Warner Communications
Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States.
It was originally established in 1972 by ...
announced its intent to merge with Time Inc. for $14.9 billion in cash and stock. The merger underwent two unsuccessful efforts by
Paramount Communications
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production and distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldest film studio in the world, the second-oldest ...
to block the merger via civil injunctions, wanting to thwart the Warner offer as Paramount was seeking to acquire Time in a
hostile takeover bid. The Time Inc.-Warner Communications merger was completed on January 10, 1990, resulting in the consolidated entity becoming known as Time Warner. (Manhattan Cable Television would be integrated into
Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable, Inc. (TWC) was an American cable television company. Before it was acquired by Charter Communications on May 18, 2016, it was ranked the second largest cable company in the United States by revenue behind only Comcast, operat ...
—formed through a consolidation of the cable system assets of American Television and Communications
TC which Time acquired for $140 million in January 1978 and subsequently integrated with Manhattan Cable, and Warner Cable Communications—and would adopt its parent unit's identity in January 1993. Time Warner Cable would be spun-off from its namesake parent as an independent company in 2009, and later merged into
Charter Communications
Charter Communications, Inc., is an American telecommunications and mass media company with services branded as Spectrum. With over 32 million customers in 41 states, it is the second-largest cable operator in the United States by subscribe ...
in May 2016.) By the start of 1990, HBO served 17.3 million subscribers out of a cumulative 23.7 million subscribers covered between it and sister network Cinemax.
On November 15, 1989, Home Box Office, Inc. launched
The Comedy Channel
The Comedy Channel (promoted on air as comedy) is a defunct Australian subscription television channel available on Foxtel, and Optus Television. The channel ceased broadcasting on 1 September 2020.
History
A joint venture between Artist Serv ...
, a comedy-centered basic cable channel featuring clips excerpted from stand-up comedy sets, comedic feature films and television series. The Comedy Channel's programming model was similar to the original format of
MTV (which, ironically, was launched under WBD's predecessor Warner Communications and American Express's media joint venture, Warner–Amex Satellite Entertainment).
Its competitor was Viacom-owned
Ha!: The TV Comedy Network, another startup comedy-oriented cable channel that was formally announced after The Comedy Channel and debuted on
April 1
Events Pre-1600
* 33 – According to one historian's account, Jesus Christ's Last Supper is held.
* 527 – Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne.
*1081 – Alexios I Ko ...
, 1990, focusing on reruns of older network sitcoms. Both channels experienced difficulties gaining sufficient cable distribution (both Ha! and The Comedy Channel each had fewer than 10 million subscribers), and struggled to turn a profit, making them "prohibitively expensive" to operate independently.
On December 18, 1989, Viacom and HBO reached an agreement to consolidate Ha! and The Comedy Channel into a single channel, CTV: The Comedy Network, which launched on April 1, 1991;
its name was subsequently changed to
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programmin ...
on June 1 of that year, in order to limit confusion and potential trademark issues with the Canadian-based
CTV Television Network. Time Warner/HBO exited the venture in April 2003, when Viacom bought out its 50% stake in Comedy Central for $1.23 billion. (, Comedy Central operates under the
Media Networks unit of
Paramount Global
Paramount Global ( doing business as Paramount) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned and operated by National Amusements (79.4%) and headquartered at One Astor Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York. ...
.)
On December 19, 1990, Home Box Office, Inc. announced the formation of TVKO (renamed HBO PPV in 2001 and HBO Boxing Pay-Per-View in 2013), a sports production unit—operated by Time Warner Sports, in conjunction with its HBO Sports unit—which distributed and organized marquee
pay-per-view boxing events with the partnership of participating
promoters. The announcement came as HBO secured an agreement with promoter
Dan Duva
Dan Duva (7 November 1951 – 30 January 1996) was an American boxing promoter who promoted or co-promoted over 100 world championship fights through his family-run business, Main Events. Under his leadership Main Events promoted such notab ...
to broadcast then-heavyweight champion
Evander Holyfield's pay-cable and pay-per-view matches, which had been airing on Showtime since 1986. HBO announced it would fold HBO PPV on September 27, 2018, as part of the HBO television service's broader exit from boxing telecasts after 45 years, citing the influx of sports-based streaming services (such as
DAZN
DAZN ( "da zone") is a global sports entertainment platform. Different to traditional linear and satellite broadcasting, DAZN is an over-the-top (OTT) streaming service meaning that it is delivered directly to viewers via the internet.
The ...
and
ESPN+) as well as other issues with promoters that hampered HBO's ability to acquire high-profile fight cards, declining ratings and loss of interest in the sport among HBO's subscribers, and the network's efforts to place more focus around its scripted programming in the aftermath of its acquisition by WarnerMedia.
In 1993, HBO purchased post-theatrical distribution rights for 48 films in development from upstart production company
Savoy Pictures
Savoy Pictures Entertainment, Inc. was an American independent motion picture company in operation from 1992 to 1997. Among Savoy Pictures' noteworthy feature films were ''A Bronx Tale'', '' No Escape'', ''Last of the Dogmen'' and ''Serial Mom''. ...
(co-founded by Victor A. Kaufman and Lewis J. Korman). Savoy Pictures never generated success with any of its feature film releases, and eventually folded in 1997.
In 2005, HBO Films and New Line Cinema formed
Picturehouse, a worldwide theatrical distribution company for high-quality
independent films. The company, along with sister studio
Warner Independent Pictures
Warner Independent Pictures was an independent film division of the American film studio Warner Bros., itself a division of Warner Bros. Discovery, which then was known as TimeWarner. Established in August 2003, its first release was 2004's ' ...
, was shut down in May 2008 as part of the consolidation of New Line with its sister unit Warner Bros. Entertainment. (Picturehouse CEO Bob Berney would later resurrect the studio as an independent entity in 2013, after purchasing the trademark rights from Time Warner.)
On March 1, 1994, a partnership between Home Box Office, Inc. and
Showtime Networks
Showtime Networks Inc. is an American entertainment company that oversees the company's premium cable television channels, including its flagship service Showtime. It is a subsidiary of media conglomerate Paramount Global under its networks un ...
(parent of HBO rivals Showtime and The Movie Channel) implemented a cooperative
content advisory system that was initially unveiled across HBO, Cinemax and the Showtime Networks properties that would provide specific content information for pay-cable subscribers to determine the suitability of a program for children. The development of the system—inspired by the advisory ratings featured in HBO and Cinemax's respective program guides and those distributed by other participating premium cable services—was in response to concerns from parents and advocacy groups about violent content on television, allowing HBO and other services to assign individual ratings corresponding to the objectionable content depicted in specific programs (and categorized based on violence, profanity, sexuality or miscellaneous mature material). Labels are assigned to each program at the discretion of the participating service. A revised system—centered around ten content codes of two to three letters in length—was implemented across HBO and the other participating pay services on June 10, 1994.
On January 7, 1998, Time Warner announced it would immediately consolidate its
C-band retail businesses, HBO Direct (a retail arm of HBO's direct-to-home operations that sold HBO, Cinemax and their respective multiplex packages as well as ancillary programming services) and Turner Home Satellite (THS) (which handled C-band,
direct-broadcast satellite
Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location. The signals are received via an outdoor parabolic antenna commo ...
and hospitality distribution of the
Turner Broadcasting System
Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (alternatively known as Turner Entertainment Networks from 2019 until 2022) was an American television and media conglomerate. Founded by Ted Turner and based in Atlanta, Georgia, it merged with Time Warner (lat ...
cable networks—including
TBS Superstation
TBS (an abbreviation for Turner Broadcasting System) is an American pay television network owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery U.S. Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It carries a variety of programming, with a focus on comedy, alo ...
,
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
,
CNN Headline News,
CNN International
CNN International (CNNI, simply branded on-air as CNN) is an international television channel that is owned by CNN Global. CNN International carries news-related programming worldwide; it cooperates with sister network CNN's national and inte ...
,
TNT
Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...
,
Cartoon Network and
Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of At ...
—and until the promotion's folding in 2001,
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nati ...
CWpay-per-view events), into a singular retail unit under Home Box Office Inc.
On October 15, 2014, Home Box Office, Inc. announced it would launch an
over-the-top (OTT) subscription streaming service in the United States in 2015, which would be marketed directly to
cord cutter
Cord or CORD may refer to:
People
* Alex Cord (1933–2021), American actor and writer
* Chris Cord (born 1940), American racing driver
* Errett Lobban Cord (1894–1974) American industrialist
* Ronnie Cord (1943–1986), Brazilian singer
* Co ...
s (consumers who primarily use streaming video services rather than watch television via a
cable
Cable may refer to:
Mechanical
* Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof
* Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...
or satellite subscription) and competing with services such as
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...
.
HBO Now
HBO Now (formally named HBO from July 2020) was an American subscription video on demand streaming service for premium television network HBO owned by WarnerMedia subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc. Officially unveiled on March 9 and launched on A ...
formally launched on April 7, 2015, initially retailing only to
Apple TV and
iOS
iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also include ...
devices under a three-month exclusivity agreement. The service is similar to
HBO Go
HBO Go is a partly-inactive authenticated video on demand of the pay television service HBO. The service allowed subscribers to HBO via television providers to access its programming on-demand via the HBO website, mobile apps, and digital medi ...
, a
TV Everywhere
TV Everywhere (also known as authenticated streaming or authenticated video on-demand) refers to a type of subscription business model wherein access to streaming video content from a television channel requires users to "authenticate" themse ...
streaming platform that launched on February 18, 2010, and is marketed exclusively to existing HBO linear subscribers through a television provider.
Under WarnerMedia stewardship, on October 10, 2018, the company announced plans for a new OTT platform combining programming from HBO with content from various other WarnerMedia properties, including
Warner Bros. Pictures
Warner Bros. Pictures is an American film production and distribution company of the Warner Bros. Pictures Group division of Warner Bros. Entertainment (both ultimately owned by Warner Bros. Discovery). The studio is the flagship producer of ...
,
Warner Bros. Television
Warner Bros. Television Studios (operating under the name Warner Bros. Television; formerly known as Warner Bros. Television Division) is an American television production and distribution studio of the Warner Bros. Television Group division of ...
, and the WarnerMedia Entertainment- and Warner Bros. Entertainment-operated basic cable networks previously owned by the Turner Broadcasting System. The service—announced as
HBO Max
HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Netw ...
on July 9, 2019, and operating under WarnerMedia Direct, making it one of two HBO-branded properties (alongside HBO Home Entertainment) not to operate under the Home Box Office, Inc. umbrella—was developed under a separate infrastructure from HBO Go and HBO Now, and existing subscribers were offered to transfer subscriptions to HBO Max following its May 27, 2020 launch. Although the two existing platforms continue to be sold, WarnerMedia began phasing out HBO Now on participating digital platforms with the launch of HBO Max, which utilizes a similar design interface as HBO Now for its
Apple
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...
and
Android apps.
Acquisition by AT&T
On October 22, 2016,
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile te ...
disclosed an offer to acquire Time Warner for $108.7 billion, including assumed debt held by the latter company. The merger would bring Time Warner's various media properties, including Home Box Office, Inc., under the same corporate umbrella as AT&T's telecommunications holdings, including satellite provider
DirecTV
DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. I ...
and
IPTV
Internet Protocol television (IPTV) is the delivery of television content over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. This is in contrast to delivery through traditional terrestrial, satellite, and cable television formats. Unlike downloaded med ...
/broadband provider
AT&T U-verse
U-verse TV is a DirecTV brand of IPTV service. Launched on June 26, 2006, U-verse included broadband Internet (now AT&T Internet or AT&T Fiber), IP telephone (now AT&T Phone), and IPTV (U-verse TV) services in 48 states.[U.S. Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...]
filed a lawsuit against AT&T and Time Warner in an attempt to block the merger, citing
antitrust concerns surrounding the transaction. U.S. clearance of the proposed merger—which had already received approval from
European
European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to:
In general
* ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe
** Ethnic groups in Europe
** Demographics of Europe
** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...
,
Mexican,
Chilean and
Brazilian regulatory authorities—was affirmed by court ruling on June 12, 2018, after
District of Columbia U.S. District Court Judge
Richard J. Leon ruled in favor of AT&T, and dismissed antitrust claims asserted in the DOJ's lawsuit. The merger closed two days later on June 14, 2018, with Time Warner becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T, which renamed the unit
WarnerMedia
Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States.
It was originally established in 1972 by ...
. The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington unanimously upheld the lower court's ruling in favor of AT&T on February 26, 2019. In August 2017, as part of their co-production deal with the studio, HBO and
Sky
The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space.
In the field of astronomy, ...
acquired minority equity interests in British
television production company
A production company, production house, production studio, or a production team is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and vi ...
Bad Wolf
"Bad Wolf" is the twelfth episode of the revived first series of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. The episode was first broadcast on BBC One on 11 June 2005. It is the first of a two-part story. The concluding episo ...
(producer of the HBO miniseries ''
The Night Of
''The Night Of'' is a 2016 American eight-part crime drama television miniseries based on the first season of ''Criminal Justice'', a 2008 British series. The miniseries was written by Richard Price and Steven Zaillian (based on the original ' ...
'').
On February 28, 2019,
stepped down from his position as CEO of Home Box Office, Inc., after a collective 27-year tenure at HBO and twelve years as head of the network and its parent unit. Plepler reportedly "found he had less autonomy after the merger," as Stankey felt Plepler was "attached to a fading distribution model" by selling HBO programming with other linear channels and to channel platforms operated by streaming distributors also involved in content development; Plepler had developed a plan to drive $7.5 billion in annual revenue by seeking greater content investment for HBO and Cinemax (including incorporating "family-friendly original, library, and licensed children's programming" onto Cinemax's schedule), an agreement to sell its TV Everywhere service HBO Go directly to
Comcast's broadband-only customers, and to offer the HBO/Cinemax linear channel bundle for at a slightly higher price point than the standalone HBO service's average $14.99 monthly fee. Stankey, meanwhile, wanted to leverage HBO and the broader WarnerMedia content library to develop a viable streaming competitor to
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...
, which resulted in the development and May 2020 launch of HBO Max over HBO Go and HBO Now's existing technical infrastructure.
On March 4, 2019, AT&T announced a major reorganization of WarnerMedia's assets, dividing WarnerMedia's television properties among three corporate divisions. Home Box Office, Inc. (encompassing HBO, Cinemax, and their respective wholly owned international channels and streaming services) was reassigned to
WarnerMedia Entertainment
Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States.
It was originally established in 1972 by ...
, placing it under the same umbrella as sister basic cable networks TBS, TNT and
TruTV
TruTV (stylized as truTV) is an American basic cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel primarily broadcasts comedy, docusoaps and reality shows.
The channel was originally launched in 1991 as Court TV, a network that fo ...
(which were formerly part of the dissolved Turner Broadcasting System subsidiary), and under the leadership of former NBC and Showtime executive
Bob Greenblatt. However, Home Box Office, Inc. otherwise operates as an autonomous subsidiary within the WarnerMedia Entertainment umbrella. (Other former Turner assets were split between two other new subsidiaries:
WarnerMedia News & Sports, which oversees CNN and its sister networks,
Turner Sports
Warner Bros. Discovery Sports (WBD Sports) is the division of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) that is responsible for sports broadcasts on its parent company's various channels in the United States, including TBS, TNT, AT&T SportsNet, and TruTV. ...
and management operations for
NBA TV
NBA TV is an American sports-oriented pay television network owned by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and operated by Warner Bros. Discovery through its sports unit. Dedicated to basketball, the network features exhibition, regula ...
, and Warner Bros. Global Kids, Young Adults and Classics, a unit of Warner Bros. that oversees such networks as
Cartoon Network and
Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of At ...
.)
On May 8, 2019, as part of a broader reorganization that also brought HBO Enterprises and programming distribution for Turner Entertainment under the division, HBO parent WarnerMedia announced that HBO Home Entertainment would be transferred from Home Box Office, Inc./WarnerMedia Entertainment to
Warner Bros. Worldwide Home Entertainment and Games.
On August 7, 2020, WarnerMedia restructured several of its units in a major corporate revamp that resulted in Home Box Office, Inc. and all other WarnerMedia Entertainment assets being consolidated with
Warner Bros. Entertainment
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...
to form WarnerMedia Studios & Networks Group. HBO/Cinemax President of Programming Casey Bloys—who has been with Home Box Office, Inc. since 2004 (as director of development at HBO Independent Productions), and was eventually elevated to programming president in May 2016—added oversight of HBO Max and WarnerMedia's basic cable networks to his purview. (The restructuring also resulted in the three former Turner networks reassigned to WarnerMedia Entertainment being brought back under the same umbrella as sister networks Cartoon Network/
Adult Swim
Adult Swim (AS; stylized as dult swim'' and often abbreviated as s'') is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programmed by its in-house ...
,
Boomerang
A boomerang () is a thrown tool, typically constructed with aerofoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight. A returning boomerang is designed to return to the thrower, while a non-returning ...
and Turner Classic Movies.) Among the around 800 employees whose positions were eliminated as part of the changes, the restructuring resulted in the layoffs of around 150 Home Box Office, Inc. employees.
WarnerMedia-Discovery merger
On May 17, 2021, AT&T and
Discovery, Inc.
Discovery, Inc. was an American multinational mass media factual television conglomerate based in New York City. Established in 1985, the company operated a group of factual and lifestyle television brands, such as the namesake Discovery Channel ...
reached a definitive
Reverse Morris Trust
A Reverse Morris Trust in United States law is a transaction that combines a divisive reorganization (spin-off) with an acquisitive reorganization ( statutory merger) to allow a tax-free transfer (in the guise of a merger) of a subsidiary. It may b ...
agreement, in which AT&T would
spin out
Spinout or Spin Out may refer to:
*Corporate spin-off, also known as a spin-out, a type of corporate action where a company turns a portion of itself into a separate business
*Spinout (driving), failure when braking
Entertainment
* ''Spinout (fil ...
WarnerMedia into an independent company (unwinding the prior 2017 acquisition of the former Time Warner) that will concurrently acquire Discovery's assets, for $43 billion in cash, securities and stock plus WarnerMedia's retention of certain debt. Under the transaction, which is expected to be finalized by the second quarter of 2022, Home Box Office Inc. and all other assets of WarnerMedia would be combined with the assets of Discovery, Inc. (such as
Discovery Channel,
Animal Planet
Animal Planet (stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American multinational pay television channel owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. First established on June 1, 1996, the network is primarily ...
,
Discovery+
Discovery may refer to:
* Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown
* Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown
* Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence
Discovery, The Discover ...
,
All3Media
All3Media Limited is a British worldwide independent television, film and digital production and distribution company based in London, England. The All3Media group comprises more than 40 production and distribution companies from across the U ...
,
Eurosport
Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through its international sports unit, it operates two main channels— Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2—across most of its territories, ...
,
GolfTV
GolfTV was an international streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through its international sports unit and ran by its Warner Bros. Discovery Golf division, which aired golf tournaments, news and documentaries.
History
In June 20 ...
,
Golf Digest,
Golf World
''Golf World'' was a weekly magazine covering the game of golf published by Condé Nast. It was in circulation between 1947 and 2014. Currently, ''Golf World'' still available in digital form and from May 13, 2019 to April 8, 2022, the brand has b ...
,
Really,
Motor Trend Group
Motor Trend Group, LLC, formerly known as Source Interlink Media and TEN: The Enthusiast Network, is a media company that specializes in enthusiast brands, such as ''Motor Trend'', ''Hot Rod'', and ''Roadkill''. Headquartered in New York City, ...
,
Food Network
Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (which holds a 69% ownership stake of the network) and Nexstar Media Group ( ...
,
Discovery Family,
HGTV,
Asian Food Network
The Asian Food Network (AFN), formerly known as Asian Food Channel, is a Southeast Asian pay television channel and website owned by Warner Bros. Discovery International. Launched in 2005, it provides a mix of food programming content primaril ...
,
Travel Channel
Travel Channel (stylized as Trvl Channel since 2018) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, which had previously owned the channel from 1997 to 2007. The channel is headquartered in New York, New York, United S ...
,
TVN Group,
Frisbee,
K2,
Discovery New Zealand
Warner Bros. Discovery New Zealand is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery that operates several television channels in New Zealand. It operates five national free-to-air television channels, eight pay-TV channels on Sky and the Newshub servi ...
,
Tele 5
Tele 5 is a German free-to-air television channel that broadcasts classic American films, series, cartoons and Japanese anime.
On 3 July 2020, Discovery, Inc. agreed to acquire the channel from Leonine Holding, completing the purchase on 1 ...
,
TLC
TLC may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Television
* ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2
* TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network
** TLC (Asia), an A ...
and many more). AT&T shareholders will own 71% of the company's stock and Discovery shareholders will own the remaining 29% share, with each shareholder group appointing representative
board members;
David Zaslav
David Zaslav (born January 15, 1960) is an American media executive who currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer and President of Warner Bros. Discovery. Zaslav spearheaded the transaction between AT&T and Discovery to combine with Warne ...
, President and CEO of Discovery, will head the new company, replacing WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar.
On June 1, 2021, it was announced that the merged company would be known as
Warner Bros. Discovery
Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at 230 Park Avenue South in New York City. It was formed after the spin-off of WarnerMedia by AT&T, and its merger with Di ...
; Zaslav explained that it would reflect "the combination of Warner Bros.' fabled hundred-year legacy of creative, authentic storytelling and taking bold risks to bring the most amazing stories to life, with Discovery’s global brand that has always stood brightly for integrity, innovation and inspiration."
The merger was officially completed on April 8, 2022, with Home Box Office, Inc. becoming part of the rechristened Warner Bros. Discovery US Networks Group; in addition to his existing duties as CEO of Home Box Office, Inc., Casey Bloys—one of four upper-level WarnerMedia division executives to remain with Warner Bros. Discovery post-merger—assumed oversight of
Magnolia Network
Magnolia Network is an American basic cable network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and Chip and Joanna Gaines. It broadcasts personality-based lifestyle programs related to topics such as home construction, renovation, and cuisine.
The channe ...
(through parent unit Warner Bros. Discovery Lifestyle Brands), which had previously been managed alongside Discovery's other factual and lifestyle brands. (The other Discovery networks continue to report to Kathleen Finch, who also assumed oversight of the combined company's entertainment-formatted U.S. basic linear networks, including those that previously reported to Bloys under WarnerMedia.)
Properties
Current
*
HBO
** HBO2
** HBO Signature
** HBO Family
***
HBO Kids
''HBO Kids'' (formerly ''Jam'') is an American preschool/children's television morning block operated by Home Box Office, Inc. (HBO), a division of Warner Bros. Discovery. The block runs on HBO Family, HBO's sister station that targets children a ...
** HBO Comedy
** HBO Zone (U.S. only)
** HBO Latino (U.S. only)
* HBO International (managed through
Warner Bros. Discovery International)
** HBO Latin America /
HBO Brasil
HBO Brazil is the Brazilian version of HBO, a pay TV channel dedicated to feature films, series and other special content since 1994. As with its American counterpart, HBO Brazil has premium characteristics, and invests in original programming. ...
/ HBO Caribbean
*** HBO2
*** HBO Plus (HBO+)
*** HBO Family
*** HBO Signature
*** HBO Mundi
*** HBO Pop
*** HBO Xtreme
**
HBO Asia
HBO Asia is the Asian division of HBO, based out of Singapore. It was originally launched on 1 May 1992 as MovieVision, later rebranding on 1 June 1995 to its current name after being purchased by Home Box Office, Inc. The Singapore-based broad ...
***
HBO Family
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is bas ...
***
HBO Hits
HBO Hits is a multiplex channel of HBO in Asia featuring Hollywood blockbuster movies of all genres.
Programming
HBO Hits Asia has licensing deals with two major Hollywood conglomerates film studios: Warner Bros. Discovery (Warner Bros. Pict ...
***
HBO Signature
**
HBO Europe
HBO Europe is a premium television group of channels by HBO. It is available as a group of film channels and streaming television services in Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Montenegr ...
***
HBO Europe Original Programming Ltd. (producer of several local original scripted programming and series based on licensed formats for
Central and
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whic ...
, based in
London, England, United Kingdom)
*** HBO2
*** HBO3
**
HBO Go
HBO Go is a partly-inactive authenticated video on demand of the pay television service HBO. The service allowed subscribers to HBO via television providers to access its programming on-demand via the HBO website, mobile apps, and digital medi ...
(international streaming service)
*
Cinemax
Cinemax is an American pay television, cable, and satellite television network owned by the Home Box Office, Inc. subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. Developed as a companion "maxi-pay" service complementing the offerings shown on parent ...
** MoreMax (U.S. only)
** ActionMax (U.S. only)
** ThrillerMax (U.S. only)
** MovieMax (U.S. only)
** Cinemáx (U.S. only; Spanish language simulcast feed of primary Cinemax channel)
** 5StarMax (U.S. only)
** OuterMax (U.S. only)
** Cinemax on Demand
** Cinemax (Latin America, Brazil and the Caribbean) (supported-basic cable channel) (managed through Warner Bros. Discovery International)
**
Cinemax (Asia)
Cinemax Asia is a pan-Asian pay television channel as a part of the HBO Asia network. It features action, science-fiction, thriller, and adult comedy films. Cinemax Asia is headquartered in Warner Bros. Discovery Asia office in Singapore.
Histo ...
(managed through Warner Bros. Discovery International)
** Cinemax (Europe) (managed through Warner Bros. Discovery International)
** Cinemax 2 (Europe) (managed through Warner Bros. Discovery International)
*
Magnolia Network
Magnolia Network is an American basic cable network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and Chip and Joanna Gaines. It broadcasts personality-based lifestyle programs related to topics such as home construction, renovation, and cuisine.
The channe ...
* HBO Bulk (formerly HBO Direct) – sales distributor for hospitality properties, colleges and apartments
*
HBO Films
HBO Films (formerly called HBO Premiere Films and HBO Pictures) is an American production and distribution company, a division of the cable television network HBO that produces feature films and miniseries. The division produces fiction and non- ...
* HBO Documentary Films
Former assets
Divested
*
BET Holdings, Inc. – 15% with Robert Johnson, BET executives and shareholders, Taft Television & Radio Company and
Liberty Media/
Tele-Communications, Inc.
Tele-Communications, Inc. (TCI) was a cable television provider in the United States, and for most of its history was controlled by Bob Magness and John Malone.
The company was started in 1958 in Bozeman, Montana as Western Microwave, Inc. and C ...
(1985–1996)
*
Bad Wolf Ltd – television production company (minority stake, operated with
Sky
The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space.
In the field of astronomy, ...
)
*
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programmin ...
– 50% with
Viacom Viacom, an abbreviation of Video and Audio Communications, may refer to:
* Viacom (1952–2006), a former American media conglomerate
* Viacom (2005–2019), a former company spun off from the original Viacom
* Viacom18, a joint venture between Par ...
(1989–2004)
*
TriStar Pictures
TriStar Pictures, Inc. (spelled as Tri-Star until 1991) is an American film studio and production company that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, part of the multinational conglomerate Sony. It is a corporate sibling of Sony ...
– joint venture with
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
and
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...
(1983–1986)
Dormant, transferred or shuttered
*
Festival
A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival ...
(1986–1988)
* HBO Boxing Pay-Per-View (1990–2018; formerly known as TVKO and HBO PPV)
*
HBO Home Entertainment (1984–2019; transferred to
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group)
* HBO Home Satellite (1986–2007; folded into HBO Bulk)
*
HBO Defined (India)
* HBO Downtown Productions (1989–2001; pre-1992 library owned by HBO)
*
HBO Hits
HBO Hits is a multiplex channel of HBO in Asia featuring Hollywood blockbuster movies of all genres.
Programming
HBO Hits Asia has licensing deals with two major Hollywood conglomerates film studios: Warner Bros. Discovery (Warner Bros. Pict ...
(India)
* HBO Independent Productions (1990–2001)
*
HBO Latin America Group
HBO Latin America was a company that owned and distributed several television channels in the region of Latin America. It was originally founded as a joint venture between Time Warner and Ole Communications in 1991 with the launch of HBO in the r ...
(1991-2020)
*
HBO Netherlands – joint venture with
Ziggo
Ziggo Holding B.V. () is the largest cable operator in the Netherlands, providing digital cable television, Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers.
History
The company is the result of the merger between ...
*
HBO Now
HBO Now (formally named HBO from July 2020) was an American subscription video on demand streaming service for premium television network HBO owned by WarnerMedia subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc. Officially unveiled on March 9 and launched on A ...
(2015–2020; phased out and superseded by HBO Max)
*
HBO Nordic
Home Box Office (HBO)—originally established on November 8, 1972, as a premium cable television network in the United States—has, since 1991, expanded into a family of international pay television channels presently owned by Warner Bros. Di ...
(2012–2021; superseded by HBO Max)
* HBO Portugal (superseded by HBO Max)
* HBO España (2016–2021; superseded by HBO Max)
* HBO NYC Productions (1986–1999; formerly known as HBO Showcase, folded into HBO Films)
*
Red by HBO (24/7 Asian cinema channel; joint venture with
Mei Ah Entertainment
Mei Ah Entertainment Group Co., Ltd. () () is a major media distribution company in Hong Kong.
History
The company was established in 1984 in Kowloon Bay by Mr. Li Kuo Hsing, Hong Kong. During the 1980s, the Group's principal activities were t ...
) (2010-2021)
*
Take 2
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. is an American video game holding company based in New York City and founded by Ryan Brant in September 1993.
The company owns two major Imprint (trade name), publishing labels, Rockstar Games and 2K (compa ...
(1979–1981)
References
External links
HBO Bulk website(bulk property, college and hotel sales)
Home Box Officeat the Internet Movie Database
{{Authority control
Warner Bros. Discovery subsidiaries
1972 establishments in New York City
American companies established in 1972
American corporate subsidiaries
Cable network groups in the United States
Companies based in Manhattan
Broadcasting companies of the United States
Entertainment companies based in New York City
Entertainment companies established in 1972
Entertainment companies of the United States
Mass media companies established in 1972
Mass media companies of the United States
Mass media companies based in New York City
1990 mergers and acquisitions
Multinational companies headquartered in the United States