HBO
From Sopranopedia - The Sopranos Encyclopedia
| HBO | |
| Type | Cable network (movies, sports) |
|---|---|
| Availability |  United States, national |
| Owner | Home Box Office, Inc. (Time Warner) |
| Key people | Bill Nelson - Acting CEO |
| Launch date | November 8, 1972 |
| Past names | None |
| Website | http://www.hbo.com/ |
HBO (Home Box Office) is an American premium cable television network. HBO airs theatrically released feature films, original television movies, and various original series, including flagship programs The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, and Sex and the City. Other popular series include Oz, Carnivàle, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Wire, Entourage, Deadwood, and Tales from the Crypt. HBO is operated by the Home Box Office Group, part of Time Warner.
Table of contents |
History
In 1965, cable pioneer Charles Dolan won the franchise to build a cable system in lower Manhattan. The new system, named Sterling Manhattan Cable by Mr. Dolan, was the nation's first urban underground cable system. Instead of stringing cable on telephone poles and using microwave antennas to receive the signals, Sterling laid underground cable beneath the streets of Manhattan because television signals were blocked by many tall buildings. Time Life, Inc., in the same year, purchased 20 percent of Dolan's company.
Dolan presented his "Green Channel" idea to Time Life management, and though satellite distribution was only a distant possibility at the time, he persuaded Time Life to back him, and soon "The Green Channel" became Home Box Office on November 8, 1972. HBO began using microwave to feed its programming. The first program aired over the pay-channel was a New York Rangers / Vancouver Canucks game, to a CATV system in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania (a plaque commemorating this event is found in Wilkes-Barre's downtown Public Square). Also on that night was the first film to be seen on HBO—We Love to Reprint, starring Dave Nelson and Sophia Staveris.
Sterling Manhattan Cable was rapidly losing money because the company had a small subscriber base of 20,000 customers in Manhattan. Dolan's media partner, Time Life, Inc., gained 80 percent control of Sterling and decided to pull the plug on the Sterling Manhattan operation. Time Life dropped the Sterling name to become Manhattan Cable Television and gained control of HBO in March, 1973. Gerald Levin replaced Dolan as HBO's President and Chief Executive Officer. In September 1973 Time Life, Inc. completed its acquisition of the pay service. HBO was soon the fastest show in America on 14 systems in New York and Pennsylvania, but the churn rate was exceptionally high. Subscribers would sample the service for a few weeks, get weary of seeing the same films, and then cancel. HBO was struggling and something had to be done. When HBO first came to Lawrence, Massachusetts, the idea was to allow subscribers to preview the service for free on channel 3. After a month, the service moved to channel 6 and was scrambled. The preview proved popular, obtaining many subscriptions and the concept was used elsewhere. (Lawrence receives HBO on channel 301 today.)
On December 13, 1975, HBO became the first TV network to broadcast its signals via satellite when it showed the "Thrilla in Manila" boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. On December 28, 1981, HBO expanded its programming schedule to 24 hours a day, seven days per week. (Cinemax was 24/7 from the day it signed on, and Showtime and The Movie Channel went 24 hours earlier.) In January 1986, HBO also became the first satellite network to encrypt its signal from unauthorized viewing by way of the Videocipher II System. Later, HBO was one of the first cable TV networks to broadcast a high-definition version of its channel.
1983 saw the premiere of HBO's first original movie and the first made-for-pay-TV movie, The Terry Fox Story.
In the late 1980s, HBO launched a short lived channel, Festival. It featured classic movies and current hit movies as well as HBO's specials & documentaries. The difference with Festival was that it was programmed to be family-friendly. R rated movies were edited for showing and no low quality themed programs/movies were shown. Also, the subscription for the channel was priced lower than HBO & Cinemax. Unfortunately, only a few cable systems carried Festival and the channel went dark after a year or so.
HBO has been involved in several legal suits during the 1980s involving cable systems and legal statutes imposed by state and city laws that would have censored HBO and other pay-TV networks for programming that was considered "indecent."
In April 1986, HBO became a victim of broadcast signal intrusion when a man calling himself "Captain Midnight" intercepted the network's signal during a movie presentation. The man was later caught and was then prosecuted.
In 1991, HBO and Cinemax became the first premium services to offer multiplexed services to cable customers as companions to the main network, offering multiplex services of HBO (HBO2, renamed HBO Plus from 1998 to 2002) and Cinemax (Cinemax 2, now MoreMax) to three cable systems in Wisconsin, Kansas and Texas. The move proved successful resulting in HBO and Cinemax launching additional multiplex channels of its service, HBO 3 (launched in 1995, renamed HBO Signature in 1998), HBO Family (launched in 1996), HBO Comedy & HBO Zone (launched in 1999) and HBO Latino, a Latino-themed channel of HBO (launched in 2000, HBO also had an HBO En Espanol, a Spanish-language service launched in 1988). Cinemax also launched the multiplex services Cinemax 3 (launched in 1996, launching again as ActionMax in 1998), ThrillerMax (launched in 1998) and WMax, @Max, OuterMax and 5StarMax (all launched in 2001). The HBO channels became collectively known as "HBO The Works" in 1998, and the Cinemax channels became known as "MultiMax". The two packages have since merged into "HBOMAX Pak".
Originally, HBO was part of Time Inc. When Time merged with Warner Communications in 1989, it became part of Time Warner, who serves as its parent company today.
HBO has also developed a reputation for offering very high quality original programming. HBO is a subscription-only service and does not carry normal commercials; both of these factors relieve HBO from pressures to tone down controversial aspects in their programs, thus allowing for explicit themes, such as graphic violence, explicit sex, profanity, and drug use.
The network is currently received in roughly one-third of households in the United States. It can be quite expensive to acquire HBO because subscribers are generally required to pay for an extra "tier" of service even before paying for the channel itself (though all of the HBO channels are often priced together in a single package). Someone upgrading from a standard cable package might see their bill increase more than 40%. However, federal law requires that a cable system allow a person to get just basic cable (local broadcast channels and public, educational, and governmental (PEG) channels[1]) and HBO. Cable systems can require the use of a converter box (usually digital) to receive HBO.
Even in the days of the V-chip, the primary HBO channel still does not run unedited R rated films or TV-MA rated programming during the daytime, continuing a long-held policy. HBO's multiplex channels will do so (excluding HBO Family, which doesn't run R rated films at all and will generally run PG-13 rated films only between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m.).
Several HBO programs have been re-aired on other networks and local syndication (usually after some editing), and a number of them are also available on DVD. Interestingly, since HBO's more successful series, most notably the trio of Sex and the City, The Sopranos, and Six Feet Under, are broadcast on non-cable networks in other countries, such as in the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, HBO programming has the potential to be seen by a higher percentage of the population of those countries as compared to the U.S. Because of the high cost of HBO, many Americans only view HBO programs on DVDs or in basic cable or broadcast syndication, months or even years after the network has first broadcast the programs, and with editing for advertising time and content, although several series have filmed alternate 'clean' scenes meant for syndication runs.
HBO has international operations in Latin America, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania (and Moldova), Poland, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria and South Asia(Bangladesh, India and Pakistan). It also had an early investment in New Zealand's SKY Network Television through the channel HBO (now Sky Movies). HBO plans to launch international operations in "key markets" of Europe (France, Spain, Germany and Italy) and Japan.
HBO has already begun to deliver content to cable customers in the UK on the Tiscali TV IPTV and Virgin Media Cable platforms via HBO On Demand, showing programming which has already been aired in the UK along with programming never seen on UK TV before.
Chairman/CEO firing
At 3 a.m. on Sunday, 6 May 2007, HBO Chairman and CEO Chris Albrecht was arrested on assault charges in Las Vegas, Nevada. He was charged with assaulting a woman outside the MGM Grand casino. [1][1] Albrecht blamed it on alcoholism, stating that he had been a sober member of Alcoholics Anonymous for 13 years, but then two years ago decided that he could handle alcohol and began drinking again. [1] He was fired three days later after The Los Angeles Times reported that HBO paid a settlement of "at least" USD$400,000 in 1991 to a female subordinate with whom Albrecht was romantically involved, after he allegedly shoved and kicked her.[1] The Times cited four people with knowledge of the matter. The Times also reported that Jeff Bewkes, currently Time Warner's president, oversaw the settlement at the time, when Mr. Bewkes was a senior executive at HBO. Albrecht served from 1990 to 1995 as president of HBO Independent Productions, a business unit dedicated to developing and producing comedy shows for distribution on HBO and the broadcast networks. COO Bill Nelson has assumed Albrecht's duties until a permanent replacement can be found.
Critical response
Many television critics have given HBO a reputation for producing intelligent or challenging material not available elsewhere on TV. For example, Time Magazine TV critic James Poniewozik writes that "HBO specializes in intelligent, risky series that look at the dark side of American life."
Other media ventures
HBO has become somewhat of a media empire, owning the entire HBO and Cinemax family of networks as well as influence in television and film production.
In 1990, HBO launched HBO Independent Productions, a production company that produced mainly sitcoms for broadcast and basic cable television. HBO Downtown Productions was launched a year later producing comedy specials for the network as well as content for Comedy Central (which HBO formerly co-owned).
HBO also operates HBO Films, created in 1998 out of a merger of two separate small-scale film studios, HBO NYC Productions and HBO Pictures. HBO also operated another film division called HBO Showcase, which ceased in 1996 to form HBO NYC Productions.
HBO also had a couple of joint ventures:
- First, with the formation of TriStar Pictures with Columbia Pictures and CBS. Columbia later bought the two-thirds interest of the studio.
- Then, HBO merged its The Comedy Channel with Viacom's HA! cable network to form Comedy Central. In 2003, Viacom bought HBO's half of the Comedy Central channel and merged it to its MTV Networks unit.
- HBO also had a joint venture with Liberty Media and many major cable companies in Movietime channel (now E!). In 1997, The Walt Disney Company and Comcast purchased control of E!.
- In 2005, HBO and New Line Cinema launched Picturehouse, an independent film distributor. It was formerly Fine Line Features when the company was fully owned by New Line.
- HBO is the primary sponsor of the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival.
- HBO's on-demand service is being rolled out in the UK. This will be available on, among others, the Virgin Media platform.
Slogans
- 1972-1978: "Different and First"
- 1978-1982: "Don't Miss HBO"
- 1982-1983: "Start with Us on HBO"
- 1983-1985: "There's No Place Like HBO"
- 1986-1988: "Let's All Get Together"
- 1988-1989: "Watch Us Here on HBO"
- 1990-1992: "Simply The Best", used song by Tina Turner as image theme. (Still used in HBO Asia)
- 1992-1993: "We're HBO"
- 1993-1997: "We're Out of Town Today"
- 1997-Present: "It's Not TV. It's HBO"
- 2006-Present: "Get More" (Slogan for its website)
Channels
HBO operates seven multiplex channels, a high-definition television channel and a Movies on Demand service (HBO On Demand).
HBO.svg
HBO: Hit movies & first-run films, Original pictures and original hit series. |
HBO2.jpg
HBO2: Secondary channel, features more movies, hit series and original pictures as well as R-rated films during the day unlike HBO. Known as "HBO Plus" from 1998 to 2001. |
HBO Comedy.jpg
HBO Comedy: Less serious films and shows , as well as rebroadcasts of HBO comedy series and specials. It airs R-rated films during the day, but only broadcasts adult comedy specials at night. |
HBO Family.jpg
HBO Family: Movies and series aimed at a younger audience as well as films for the whole family. Only airs 'G' or 'PG' rated films during the day and airs 'PG-13' films at night. Has the distinction of being the only HBO spin-off with its own website; all the others are integrated within the main HBO site. |
HBO Latino.jpg
HBO Latino: Spanish language version of HBO, for spanish-speaking audiences. Airs HBO productions including hit series dubbed in Spanish as well as hollywood blockbusters and Spanish films. Also airs boxing and the original series Boxeo De Oro. |
HBO Signature.jpg
HBO Signature: Quality films, original HBO series and specials geared primarily at women, the channel's target audience. Known as "HBO 3" until 1998. |
HBO Zone.jpg
HBO Zone: Airs programming aimed at a younger audience, usually 18-35 years of age, as well as adult oriented programming at night. |
HBO HD.jpg
HBO HD: A high definition simulcast of the primary HBO channel. |
HBO also packages the Eastern and Pacific feeds of the main channel together, allowing viewers a second chance to watch the same movie/program three hours later/earlier depending on their geographic location.
HBO original programming
- See also: List of programs broadcast by HBO
Since 1977, HBO has produced original programming in addition to its slate of theatrical films. Most of these shows are rated TV-MA, and often feature suggestive themes and high amounts of profanity, something that would be much more difficult to get on other network channels.
Some of HBO's best-known series include:
Dramas
- The Sopranos
- John From Cincinnati
- Big Love
- Six Feet Under
- Oz
- The Wire
- Carnivàle
- Deadwood
- The Hitchhiker
- John from Cincinatti
- Tales from the Crypt
- Band of Brothers (produced in collaboration with the BBC)
- Rome (produced in collaboration with the BBC)
- From the Earth to the Moon (Miniseries)
- Lazarus, NM
Comedies
- Sex and the City
- Curb Your Enthusiasm
- Tracey Takes On...
- Entourage
- The Larry Sanders Show
- Mr. Show
- Da Ali G Show
- Extras (produced in collaboration with the BBC)
- Arli$$
- Fraggle Rock
- Dream On
- 1st & Ten
Movies
HBO currently has exclusive deals with DreamWorks (which recently was acquired by Paramount/Viacom), Twentieth Century Fox, Universal Studios (along Rogue Pictures and Focus Features), New Line Cinema, and network sister company Warner Bros. (although recently they passed on a package of recent WB films such as The Polar Express and March of the Penguins due to cost, and therefore have bypassed pay-cable altogether and went straight from pay-per-view to broadcast television).
As a result of these limited deals, HBO often fills its late-night schedule with recent B-movies (some of which were never released theatrically) produced by lesser-known independent companies. On the other hand, HBO often shows sub-runs (that is, runs of films that have already received broadcast network/syndicated television releases) of theatrical films from Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures, and Lions Gate Films.
In 2003, HBO acquired the exclusive pay-cable rights to Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones from Fox and Lucasfilm, Ltd., and during its initial 18-month term of license aired the movie without it first seeing any pay-per-view cable release. HBO also has pay-cable rights to its sequel, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. During negotiations for the pay-cable rights to Clones, a deal to air the entire saga, including the revised DVD version of the original trilogy [IV, V, and VI] was made, and as a result sister network Cinemax became the first U.S. network to air all six films (in turn, HBO will have limited pay-cable access to all these movies until 2008, when Spike TV will assume the broadcast TV rights).
HBO also has exclusive pay-cable rights to its own in-house theatrical films made under HBO Films.
Usually films which HBO has pay-cable rights will also run on Cinemax during its time of license.
Sports
HBO's first broadcast was of a New York Rangers / Vancouver Canucks game, transmitted to a CATV system in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania on November 8 1972. HBO is known for its boxing matchups including those shown on HBO World Championship Boxing. In 1975, the "Thrilla in Manila" boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier aired on HBO and was the first program on the pay-cable network to air via satellite. Also in 1975, HBO began airing coverage of Wimbledon and did so until 1999. Coverage has since moved to sister network TNT and later to ESPN2. During the mid-1970s, HBO aired several NBA and ABA basketball games (notably, the last ABA Final in 1976, between the New York Nets and Denver Nuggets) as well as some NHL hockey games. In 1977, HBO launched Inside the NFL, the channel's longest-running program. HBO launched Boxing After Dark in 1997, showcasing some of boxing's newest talents. HBO currently operates HBO PPV (formerly TVKO) to broadcast boxing matches to pay-per-view subscribers.
HBO and NFL Films have also jointly produced Hard Knocks, which follows a team in training camp and their preparations for the upcoming NFL season. The series, which first premiered in 2001, will return in 2007 when it documents the Kansas City Chiefs.
In 1973, HBO aired a World Wide Wrestling Federation event from Madison Square Garden, headlined by George Steele facing Pedro Morales. The event, which most people did not know was ever aired, recently showed up as part of the WWE 24/7 on-demand service.
Documentaries
Many of HBO's documentary series appear under the America Undercover brand. Among the regular AU features are Real Sex and Autopsy.
In 2004, guided by human rights activist Ansar Burney, an HBO team used a hidden camera to document slavery and torture in secret desert camps where boys under the age of five were trained to race camels, a national sport in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This half-hour investigative report exposed a carefully hidden child slavery ring that bought or kidnapped hundreds of young boys in Pakistan and Bangladesh. These boys were then forced to become camel jockeys in the UAE. The report also questioned the sincerity of U.S. diplomacy in pressuring an ally, the UAE, to comply with its own stated policy of banning the use of children under 15 from camel racing.
The documentary won a Sports Emmy Award in 2004 for "Outstanding Sports Journalism" and the 2006 Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University Award for outstanding broadcast journalism. It also brought world attention to the plight of child camel jockeys in the Middle East and helped Ansar Burney Trust to convince the governments of Qatar and the UAE to end the use of children in this sport.
HBO is also noted for its "Sports of the 20th Century" documentary brand. One of its most recent documentaries was "Dare to Dream" about the U.S. Women's Soccer Team and their effort to make a difference. This documentary featured Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly, Brandi Chastain, Joy Fawcett, and Julie Foudy.
In 2006, film director Spike Lee made a four-hour documentary on Hurricane Katrina called When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts, which was broken up into two parts.
Branding
When the network launched in 1972, the HBO identity was (and still is) an uppercase 'HBO' with a circle inside the 'O'. However, for the first few years, the logo featured the 'B' and the 'O' interlocked with each other with the left portion of the 'O' cut off and ridged into the 'B'. The logo was modified in 1980 (not completely replacing the original until 1981) when HBO started using the current logo with the 'B' and the 'O' still attached to each other but with a whole 'O'. The simplicity of the logo makes it somewhat easy to duplicate, something HBO has taken advantage of many times over the years. It does not correspond to one particular font; however, a few common geometric typefaces (including Arial Black) are close.
The fanfare to the HBO in Space movie open, originally composed by Ferdinand J. Smith has become a sort of musical logo for the network with numerous reorchestrations of this fanfare being used, varying from the traditional horns to piano.
Unless otherwise noted, HBO is one of the few pay-TV networks remaining that does not currently brand programming with semi-transparent logos of the main network and each respective theme channel.
Merchandising
The HBO Trademark has been used in various products. In 2005, HBO launched a deal with Cingular Wireless to create HBO Mobile. HBO Mobile, a pay service feature much like the cable network itself, features information on HBO original series such as The Sopranos, Sex and the City and others, including episode guides, wallpapers and ringtones voiced by cast members of HBO series.
In 2005, a version of the DVD interactive game Scene It was released tailored to the HBO network itself. It features trivia on various HBO series.
See also
- HBO Boxing
- HBO Films
- HBO Asia
- Festival
- Captain Midnight (HBO), for a 1986 incident where HBO's signal was jammed to protest the scrambling of their signal for satellite dish users
- Showtime
- Cinemax
- List of DirecTV channels
- List of Dish Network channels
References
External links
Template:Sports television in the United States
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