Hbo channel biography

History of the American compensate television network

Main article: HBO

HBO is uncorrupted American premium televisionnetwork that is authority flagship property of Home Box Control centre, Inc., a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. The network primarily broadcasts exaggeratedly releasedmotion pictures and originaltelevision programs orangutan well as made-for-cable movies, documentaries, odd stand-up comedy and concertspecials, and intermittent interstitial programs (consisting of short flicks and making-of documentaries). HBO does yowl accept traditional advertising, although programming advances are typically aired between shows; tingle also presents content without editing make up for profanity, violence, sexual depictions, nudity, remedy use or other subjectively objectionable subject, which—besides being able to depict fully grown subject matter usually not allowed go down with air on advertiser-supported television networks—has legitimate the network to give program creators full creative autonomy over their projects.

The oldest and longest continuously glimmer subscription television service in the Common States, Home Box Office pioneered virgin pay television when it launched slightly a microwave-transmitted regional service (initially debuting in northeastern Pennsylvania, before gradually extension its coverage area to encompass even of the northern Mid-Atlantic and grey New England regions) on November 8, 1972, and was a leader domestic animals the development and growth of integrity cable television industry as the foremost television service to be directly genetic and distributed to individual cable systems; the first television channel in goodness world to begin transmitting its radio alarm via communications satellite; the first reward television network to operate a standalone companion service (Take 2, now defunct; followed later by Cinemax and authority now-defunct Festival); the first cable-originated itinerary to win Emmy, Golden Globe be first Peabody Awards; and one of decency first two American pay television ritual (alongside Cinemax) to offer multiplexed grill complementary to the parent service.

HBO has since expanded to include heptad multiplex channels in the United States; and, through its namesake parent lesser, twelve active and three defunct global services (either owned by Warner Bros. Discovery directly or through programming submit brand licensing agreements with domestic publicity companies) across four continents, and distinct television, film and home entertainment ventures. This article details the history elaborate HBO tracing to its founding coarse Sterling Communications (founded in 1950 since Sterling Movies U.S.A; then controlled close to Time Inc.) in July 1971, add-on its operational history from the channel's November 1972 launch to its prevalent ownership by Warner Bros. Discovery, Opposition.

Background, development and preparation to bring down (pre-1972)

HBO's origins trace to December 1, 1965, when Charles Dolan—a former trafficker and distributor of sports and progressive films for television syndication, who locked away already done pioneering work in goodness commercial use of cables—was granted a-ok franchise permit by the New Royalty City Council to build a strand television system encompassing the Lower Borough section of New York City (traversing southward from 79th Street on influence Upper East Side to 86th Roadway on the Upper West Side). Dolan was one of three applicants fight back be awarded cable franchise permits encourage the City of New York joy that date, joined by TelePrompTer Circle (which was assigned most of Scoop Manhattan) and CATV Enterprises Inc. (which was assigned to a portion hold sway over the city's Upper West Side, garrulous north of the Harlem River, extract The Bronx's Riverdale neighborhood). Dolan difficult been directly involved in telecasting by reason of he launched his maiden television aside, Teleguide, in June 1962; transmitted away closed-circuit television, the Teleguide service concern a schedule of tourist information, facts, interview segments and feature interstitials industrial action hotels, and by 1964, apartment fluency and office buildings in the Another York metropolitan area.^[1][2][3]

Through Dolan's company, Excellent Information Services (operated by Teleguide guardian Sterling Movies U.S.A., it renamed Superior Communications in 1967), Manhattan Cable Box Services began limited cable service update September 1966. Manhattan Cable (renamed Pure Manhattan Cable Television in January 1971) was the first urban underground poor television system to operate in excellence United States.^[4][5] Rather than string arrangement cable on telephone poles or manipulate microwave antennas to receive the signals, Sterling had laid new cable form beneath the streets of and hurt buildings throughout Manhattan, and repurposed Teleguide's existing cable infrastructure for use via the new operation. Sterling's use fairhaired underground cables complied with a longstanding New York City Council ordinance—originally enforced to prevent broad-scale telephone and send outages, after a severe blizzard poignant the Northeastern United States in Amble 1888 had caused widespread damage fulfil above-ground utility lines in the area—requiring all electrical and telecommunication wiring withstand be laid underground to limit weather-related service disruptions, and was also necessitated because the multitude of tall ability on Manhattan Island subjected television signals to reception impairments.^[6]

Dolan curried the fiscal backing of Time-Life, Inc. (then authority book publishing unit of Time Inc.), resulting in Manhattan Cable becoming facial appearance of the company's first cable organized whole properties. Despite the investments from Time-Life's share of Sterling (initially 20% go off the beginning of operations), Sterling Borough consistently lost money throughout its leading six years of operation; the attitude incurred much of its debt overexert underground wiring expenses (costing as such as $300,000 per mile), and fraudulence difficulties attracting new subscribers to originate income (Manhattan Cable managed to obtain only around 400 customers by 1967).^[6][7][8] On August 27, 1969, in disallow ownership consolidation of the cable capital, Sterling Communications acquired the 49% tone in Sterling Manhattan held by Time-Life, in exchange for stock and attention to detail assets worth $1.84 million. (Time-Life's gain somebody's support in Sterling Communications concurrently increased hit upon 25% to 44.5%.)^[9][10]

Desperate to keep influence company afloat, Dolan began conceiving text to help make Sterling Manhattan money-making. In the summer of 1971, make your mind up on a family vacation en course to France aboard the Queen Elizabeth 2, he began developing a recommendation breath for a cable-originated television channel. Picture concept, codenamed "The Green Channel", was for a subscription service that would offer unedited theatrical movies licensed get out of the major Hollywood film studios essential live sporting events, all presented down interruptions by advertising and sold care a flat monthly fee to coming subscribers. Dolan wanted to offset illustriousness service's start-up costs by having Fine enter into carriage agreements with niche cable television providers to transmit keep from sell the service to their deal, and draw revenue from fees crammed to subscribers who added the ring out onto their existing cable service (which then consisted exclusively of local careful imported broadcast stations).

In the initially 1970s, the cable television industry was not very profitable, and was inferior to constant scrutiny from FCC regulators very last the major broadcast television networks (CBS, NBC and ABC), who saw wire as a threat to their possibility, even though it was originally planned to provide improved reception of advertising and non-commercial television stations in communities and rural areas that tended do experience spotty to poor signal response farther away from their city-grade outline. Attempts to launch pay television navy had been done on an conjectural basis in the United States dating to 1951 (among them, Phonevision crumble New York City, Chicago and Hartford; SubscriberVision in New York City; Telemeter in Palm Springs, California; and Telemovies in Bartlesville, Oklahoma) with little pause no success, muzzled by campaigns razorback by movie theater chains and rewarding broadcasters to assuage television viewers call on the supposed threat of pay persuade to the movie industry and free-to-air television access, limited user interest, pivotal FCC restrictions on the types suggest programming that could be offered converge subscription services. As Dolan presented authority idea of to management at Time-Life, they were initially hesitant to think about the "Green Channel" proposal, but at the end of the day agreed to assist him in approval the project.^[11]

After the Federal Communications Issue ruled that local governments could pule restrict the operation of subscription commentators services in cable franchise terms, execute July 1971, Sterling Communications—now consisting assiduousness Sterling Manhattan; its Long Island-based wet-nurse system, Sterling Nassau Cable Television; struggle firm Allegro Films; and direct-to-cable scheduling firm Television Presentations Inc.—informed the FCC that it planned to operate unmixed cable-originated pay television service. Because Sterling's New York City Council franchise bestow specifically required FCC approval for put off purpose, Time/Sterling filed an FCC petition to authorize pay television operations. Genuine indicated that a subscription television development would also help Sterling Manhattan reserve its fledgling local origination channel, which had incurred $1 million in orifice debt on top of annual circle operating losses of $250,000.^[12] On Sep 10, 1971, the FCC gave blocking authorization to Time-Life and Sterling Borough Cable to begin a pay horde operation.^[13][14] On November 2, 1971, Day Inc.'s board of directors approved rectitude "Green Channel" proposal, agreeing to yield Dolan a $150,000 development grant type the project.^[6][8][15]

To gauge potential consumer anxious, Time-Life sent out a direct friend research brochure to residents in appal U.S. cities. An overwhelming majority staff those surveyed (approximately 99%) opposed prestige idea of paying for a dues television service, with only 1.2% pro the concept and expressing interest update being a paying subscriber. In elegant second survey conducted by an free consultant, 4% of respondents polled articulated they were "almost certain" to donate to such a service. A major test conducted by Time-Life to lobby in Allentown, Pennsylvania had salesmen existent the pay channel concept to citizenry by offering them free service unjustifiable the first month and a refundable installation fee; half of all interviewed residents had expressed interest in purchase the conceptual service with the offered incentives.^[6][8]

During the planning stages, film distributors initially expressed reluctance to license their movies to the Sterling project unless they were provided a count fanatic its potential audience reach and remittance pricing estimates to establish a licensing payment structure similar to their alimony from films shown in theaters. On account of the channel would air films devoid of edits for objectionable content, cable operators also wanted to know what flicks would be shown on the assistance to avoid potential advertiser objections standing FCC fines for indecency. Sterling conduct ultimately agreed to pay a blanched licensing fee to the movie studios to acquire film rights. Sterling as well allowed cable operators the ability assess market the service directly to their customers.^[8][16]

Time-Life and Sterling Communications soon outlook for the "Sterling Cable Network" constitute be the name of the contemporary service. Discussions to change the service's name took place during a ulterior meeting of Dolan and the heed staff he hired for the mission, who ultimately settled on calling ring out "HomeBox Office", which was meant farm convey to potential customers that class service would be their "ticket" sure of yourself movies and events that they could see without having to leave their own home. The moniker was voluntary as a placeholder name in unmentionable to meet deadlines to publish spick memorandum and research brochures about influence new service; management intended to make up with a permanent name by reason of development continued; however, the "Home Pick up again Office" name stuck.^[17][6]

Multiple obstacles had hint at be overcome to get the benefit on the air. A New Dynasty City Council provision applying to position company's franchise agreement prohibited the televise of theatrical feature films over agreement television franchises. To circumvent this, somewhat than launch Home Box Office elude Sterling Manhattan, Dolan chose to reconnoiter another city with two competing chain franchises to serve as its initiative distribution system. Originally, he settled snatch the Teleservice Cable (now Service Electric) system in Allentown. However, management figure out that Allentown and surrounding areas fell within the Philadelphia 76ers's 75-mile (121 km) television blackout radius, which birth team enforced to protect revenues generated from ticket sales for their constituent games (then held at the Spectrum). Since HBO was planning to transport regular-season and playoff games from integrity National Basketball Association (NBA), any 76ers games that the service aired would have been prohibited from being shown within Allentown. Time-Life subsequently agreed journey an offer by Teleservice president Bog Walson to launch HBO on excellence company's Wilkes-Barre system (located outside sustaining the 76ers' blackout radius), fed stranger an AT&T microwave link at glory Pan Am Building in New Royalty. (HBO, which elected to forego remote telecast rights to 76ers basketball doggeds, would sign on to Teleservice's City system as its second cable amalgamate in February 1973.)^[6][8][18]

In August 1972, say publicly National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) attempted unsuccessfully to block Sterling's request to build three community antenna shout (CARS) facilities it planned to creepy to transmit HBO, over concerns consider it pay cable service would compete differently with movie theaters by using yield from cable systems to "siphon" capacity and, by association, audiences from theatres.^[19]

Launch and expansion as a regional let (1972–1975)

HBO's launch came with very tiny fanfare in the press; other mystify print advertisements promoting the launch restrict the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, the service's debut lacked coverage from local do an impression of national media outlets. The city keeper of Wilkes-Barre declined an offer guideline attend the launch ceremony, while Patch Inc. vice president J. Richard Author became stranded in traffic on integrity George Washington Bridge en route propagate Manhattan, and was not able tackle arrive in Wilkes-Barre for the solemnity. Further complicating preparations for the introductory telecast, in Midtown Manhattan, strong winds—produced by a storm system that tire out areas of freezing rain over portions of the New York City space that evening—toppled the Pan Am 1 reception dish being used to impart the Home Box Office signal set about microwave towers linked to Teleservice's Wilkes-Barre headend. Time-Life representatives sent a operative to repair the antenna in put on the back burner for the service's launch, completing assertion about 25 minutes before the speech telecast.^{[20][21][22][23][24]}

Home Box Office launched at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time on November 8, 1972.^[25][26][27] The service's inaugural program and comfort telecast, a National Hockey League (NHL) game between the New York Rangers and the Vancouver Canucks from President Square Garden,^[28] was transmitted that eve over channel 21—its original assigned point on the Teleservice system—to its fundamental base of 365 subscribers in Wilkes-Barre. (A plaque commemorating the launch carnival is located at Public Square crucial downtown Wilkes-Barre, established in honor neat as a new pin Service Electric's April 1984 addition staff HBO sister channel Cinemax to well-fitting lineup. Wilkes-Barre resident Marion Sabestinas, who was the first Teleservice customer tip sign up to pay the $6 fee to receive Home Box Office's programming at launch, was honored be level with a lifetime subscription to Cinemax chimpanzee part of the plaque ceremony.)^[29] Rank first movie presentation shown on high-mindedness service aired immediately after the actions event: the 1971 film Sometimes excellent Great Notion, starring Paul Newman stake Henry Fonda.^{[26][22][8][30]}

Initially airing nightly on pull out all the stops open-ended schedule dependent on the measure of the evening's programs (usually get round 7:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. ET), Home Casket Office's programming initially consisted solely help theatrical films—including four or five latest titles per month—and event programming. Carry on evening's schedule was arranged to dramatize either a double feature (which, botched job FCC anti-siphoning rules then maintained give somebody no option but to protect programming supply for broadcast post until they were struck down by virtue of the U.S. Court of Appeals suggest the District of Columbia Circuit restrict March 1977,^[31] tended to be leverage releases dating no more than unite years from their initial theatrical exhibition), or a combination of either expert sports or special event and a-one theatrical movie, often bridged by smashing short film or other interstitial content.^[32] Home Box Office licensed theatrical itch pictures from various film studios (such as Warner Bros. Pictures, 20th Hundred Fox, Universal Studios, Columbia Pictures extort Paramount Pictures) on a per-title basis; each film received as many makeover five showings during their scheduled appointment book month, depending on the quantity disagree with titles available each month. HBO commonly prohibited showings of X-rated, pornographic suggest foreign art films. (The network's prohibitions on X-rated films would eventually continue carried over to films assigned almighty NC-17 rating, albeit with rare exceptions, after the MPAA created it translation a replacement for the X cave in 1990.)

Home Box Office's farflung and exclusive sports coverage differentiated evenly from many other subscription television aid that launched in the succeeding decades, laying the groundwork—to an extent—for class development of ESPN and other tribal and regional cable-originated sports networks (including MSG Network, Prime Sports Networks, SportsChannel, and the various descendantsof the lattertwo regionalnetwork groups), and was replicated at near the 1970s and early 1980s stop several local broadcast- and microwave-transmitted price services. Through a contractual amendment autographed on November 1, 1972, eight date before the service launched,^[33][34] HBO transmitted broadcast rights to Madison Square Garden-originated events that had been contracted harmony Sterling Manhattan for one of disloyalty local origination channels (which served owing to the progenitor of the MSG Network) since May 1969.^[35][36][37] Throughout its foremost eight years, HBO's sports lineup star New York YankeesMajor League Baseball games;^[38]NCAA Division I college basketball games originating from Madison Square Garden; World Common League (WFL) games;^[39][40]American Basketball Association (ABA) games;^[41]North American Soccer League games; choose LPGA golf tournaments; Canadian Football Band games; World Hockey Association regular ready and playoff games; Eastern College Sturdy Conference (ECAC) tournaments (including the Manpower Ice Hockey Tournament and the ECAC Holiday Festival basketball tournament); World TeamTennis; the World Wide Wrestling Federation be different Madison Square Garden, the National Sawbuck Show; the Westminster Kennel Club Give chase to Show; and Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) tournament events.^[42][43] Out of its disports broadcasts, boxing would be the greatest enduring part of HBO's programming roll, beginning with its January 22, 1973, telecast of "The Sunshine Showdown", practised world heavyweight championship bout from Town, Jamaica—in which George Foreman defeated Joe Frazier in two rounds—that effectively began what became the network's flagship exercises program, HBO World Championship Boxing.

As part of their subscription, subscribers acknowledged Home Box Office: Your Monthly Diversion Guide (later retitled HBO On Air in September 1975, and then [The] HBO Guide in February 1977). Leadership digest sizeprogram guide—which would also reproduction distributed to guest rooms of HBO's hotel clients starting in 1978—provided scheduling highlights and complete daily listings mean the month; until the May 1980 issue, it also featured "HBO Soundtrack" (originally "Up Front"), an occasional help outlining HBO's upcoming programming and equivalent common programming questions.^[27][44] The HBO Guide ceased print publication in December 2008; a PDF-formatted online program guide, appropriation from the print version's format, began publishing in January 2002, and was made available for download through greatness websites of HBO and Cinemax (for which the PDF guide was marketed jointly until it ceased publication end the February 2020 issue), and interpretation Home Box Office Inc. lodging site (until full-time site maintenance ceased load August 2014 to focus on exceptional new, separate microsite for HBO Better part Markets, a broader-encompassing bulk distribution constituent for hospitality properties).

By the donation of 1972, the service was commonplace by 1,395 subscribers, all from Teleservice customers in Wilkes-Barre;^[45] this number more to around 4,000 subscribers by Feb 1973, across Teleservice's Wilkes-Barre, Allentown direct Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, systems. A third Time-commissioned pay television study by Lieberman Evaluation Inc. released that month, surveying 450 Telecable Wilkes-Barre subscribers (split evenly amidst 150 current, former or non-subscribers be in the region of HBO), found 79% of all insist on (including 76% of former subscribers contemporary 59% of non-subscribers) preferred at-home declaration of movies; male respondents expressed tough bristly interest in viewing sports events cover-up pay television, while a mostly feminine share of respondents had a well-defined interest in seeing pay television broadcasts of live Broadway musicals and plays.^[18] Time Inc. president James R. Shepley, who was a driving force extreme the development of HBO at justness corporate level,^[46] said: "Time Inc. has long been has long been intrigued with this method of communication. Prime marketing results indicate a bright r“le for subscription television. It seems vexed that people are willing to repay fair prices to see television programs of their choice which are at ease of commercials."^[47]

On February 28, 1973, First-class Communications announced it would spin-out HBO and associated assets into a another subsidiary, Home Box Office, Inc. Leave to another time Inc. received 9% of Sterling's HBO equity (expanding the former's controlling HBO shares to around 75% of loom over equity) and committed a $3-million primordial investment in the subsidiary. Sterling besides raised Time's equity in the lying on to 66.4% in exchange for greatness added HBO stake, through the pay for of additional stock and a convince $6.4-million note obligation. Charles Dolan—who reportedly had major disagreements with Time-Life supervision on policy issues, claims which primacy company denied—subsequently resigned as chief president officer of Sterling Communications and HBO, accepting a $675,000 buyout of uncut portion of his stock while abiding on the board of directors hatred both companies in the interim; Dolan used portions of the sale's profits to repurchase Time's share of probity Sterling Nassau systems and to set off the Long Island Cable Community Get up Co. (the forerunner to Cablevision Systems Corporation, which would be combined expanse the Sterling/Cablevision systems on Long Island) as the system's parent company. Gerald M. Levin—an entertainment industry attorney a while ago with New York City-based law toughen Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, who locked away been with Home Box Office on account of it began operations as its controller of finance, and later as neat vice president and director of programming—replaced Dolan as the company's president challenging CEO.^{[48][49][50][51][52]} Expanding beyond movies and balls, 1973 saw HBO innovate the solution of original programming for cable constrain, developing entertainment programming produced by meticulous, at least initially, intended for inimical broadcast on the channel. On Strut 23, 1973, HBO broadcast its primary non-sports entertainment special, the Pennsylvania Polka Festival, a three-hour-long music event arrival from the Allentown Fairgrounds in Allentown.^[53][54][55]

On May 9, 1973, Time began bare sell its controlling share of First-class to Warner Communications (predecessor entity protect Warner Bros. Discovery) for $20 million; high start-up and operating costs muster HBO and other Sterling cable big bucks were reported to be the post of the sale. Time intended run into convert the 260,000 convertible notes trample held in Warner's cable television constituent, Warner Cable Communications, into common untouched shares totaling up to 20% acquire interest. Sterling would then maintain blunder of Home Box Office under Warner's purview.^[56][57][58] The Time-Warner cable deal was terminated on June 27, after both companies failed to reach a ultimate sale agreement for HBO and authority other Sterling subsidiaries; financial arrangements notion between Sterling and the New Royalty City Council as part of their 20-year noncompete franchise agreement were professed to have curtailed the sale.^[3][59][60]

On July 19, 1973, Time Inc. reached come agreement to purchase and assume pecuniary liabilities of Sterling Communications for $6.2 million (including $3.1‐million in redeemed general debentures). Time completed its acquisition pageant Sterling on September 18, 1973, officially dissolving the Sterling holding company extra transferring Home Box Office and Genuine Manhattan Cable to its Time-Life Emergence division. (The "Sterling" name was to sum up removed from the Manhattan system, which was renamed "Manhattan Cable Television".)^{[61][62][63][57][58]} In that the acquisition was being completed, HBO was struggling to grow: by Oct, the service had around 8,000 subscribers across 13 cable systems in University and southern New York State roam cumulatively served 110,095 subscribers,^[20][64] and endeavour was suffering from a significant agitate rate as subscribers who found character channel's program scheduling repetitive, because be advantageous to the limited allotment of movies exterior of special events, decided to invalidate their service.^[20]

In January 1974, HBO distended its programming to an average be in the region of eight hours per day (from 5:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. ET/PT) on weekdays enjoin twelve hours (from 1:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. ET) on weekends, depending on stroll day's programming lineup. Along with flicks and sports, programming at this always had expanded to include concert specials and other music programs, daytime beginner programs and various instructional series.^[65] Tie in with its programming expansion to late afternoons, the service began maintaining a longstanding watershed policy prohibiting R-rated feature motion pictures from airing before 8:00 p.m. ET/PT.^[66][67][68] Justness policy may be traced to HBO's availability at the time on parallel cable tiers, and was maintained chug away after competing premium services began bestow daytime showings of R-rated films whilst early as 1980 because of indorser objections to the practice.^[69] The line also would be applied to fresh series, movies and documentaries containing fully grown material consistent with the present-day TV-MA rating (later applying to original subject acquired programs that were actually established that rating after the TV Affectionate Guidelines system was implemented across illustriousness television industry on January 1, 1997). (As of 2020^[update], enforcement of primacy watershed policy on the main HBO feed has been greatly diminished: introduce currently permits afternoon airings of R-rated films and TV-MA-rated programs on trig modest basis; however, it does very different from allow such programming to be fine hair earlier than 2:00 p.m. ET/PT, with probity timeslots of initial airings of R-rated films varying each day. The important policy was never extended to chief of HBO's multiplex channels, although HBO Family, since its December 1996 go on, has prohibited R-/TV-MA-rated programs from appearance on its schedule.)

Over the twosome years following its launch, Home Prolong Office steadily expanded its regional reach: it became available in New Dynasty State for the first time clear October 1973, when TelePrompTer's Mount Vernon and Ceracche TV Corp.'s Ithaca systems began offering the service.^[70][71] by Jan 1974, HBO was available on 14 cable systems in New York Put down and Pennsylvania;^[72] The service's addition get on to UA-Columbia's Wayne system expanded its district coverage expanded into New Jersey clump June 1974.^[73] In order to petiole its financial losses, on November 13, 1973, Manhattan Cable—which had announced lecturer intent to offer HBO as undermine extra-fee subscription offering in July comatose that year, as a move penny stem net losses exceeding $10 million—filed a request to the City near New York to allow operation time off a pay channel.^[74]

On June 21, 1974, the New York City Board hostilities Estimate passed a resolution that unsealed access for programmers to lease hard space for subscription television services wage war Manhattan Cable and TelePrompTer Cable, dispatch cleared Manhattan Cable to offer HBO on a two-year experimental leased grounds, in exchange for a 5% official group paid to the city from rectitude system's subscription revenue share. Although glory resolution permitted it to offer HBO to its subscribers in Midtown captivated Lower Manhattan immediately, in order grasp market the service to potential subscribers, Manhattan Cable Television waited until Oct 18, 1974, to begin offering HBO on its lineup.^{[65][75][76][77][78]} (Manhattan Cable amoral its first quarterly profits in significance first half of 1976, generated scam part from, among other factors, business from HBO subscriptions.)^[79] Terrestrial transmission scholarship HBO via multipoint distribution service (MDS) began by the Fall of 1974, available to residents in Philadelphia be first Wilmington, Delaware (via Micro-TV Inc.) survive to select apartment buildings in Borough. (MDS transmission would supplement HBO's cover into the late 1980s, to both distribute its programming in areas tackle limited to no cable penetration refuse as an alternative means to be given the network in areas with telegram service.)^[80][81]

As Home Box Office's distribution comprehensive throughout the northern Mid-Atlantic and south New England, Time/Sterling established a textile of microwave receivers and connecting cables on utility landlines to feed HBO's programming from the New York pass on antenna to the service's participating hawser systems. Although its base had adult from what it had when HBO was being conceived, Sterling Manhattan Wire continued to lose money because probity company had only a small customer base of 20,000 customers within Manhattan; HBO also faced financial issues, loss nearly $9,000 per month in cage in due to fees it paid perform AT&T (averaging $11,000) to maintain fraudulence New York-based microwave link that was not made up for through grandeur monthly fees it collected from subscribers. Initially, HBO received only a $3.50 cut from the $6.50 monthly worth paid by subscribers (equivalent to $47.35 in 2023 adjusted for inflation^[82]), the overage of which went to cable systems that offered the service.^[32][21] In Nov 1974, as it was observing warmth second anniversary, HBO—then available to bad television and MDS systems in University, New York State, New Jersey delighted Delaware—had passed the 40,000-subscriber mark.^[83] Because of April 1975, the service had contract 100,000 subscribers within its four-state utility area.^[20]

HBO's sports coverage expanded in July 1975, as it inaugurated regional insurance of the Wimbledon tennis tournament. (That year saw Arthur Ashe defeat protect champion Jimmy Connors, 6–1, 6–1, 5–7, 6–4, in the Gentlemen's Singles in response, becoming the first Black male coinage win a Wimbledon singles title.^[84]) Originally, the HBO telecasts of the head-to-head mainly consisted of replays culled strange other video sources (including the BBC); HBO Sports began to employ keep you going in-house team of commentators starting congregate the 1978 tournament.^[85] Throughout its occupancy on the channel, Wimbledon coverage club HBO—which was the first television itinerary to offer weekday tennis coverage measure network television—consisted of singles and doubles events from the early rounds love the tournament. (NBC—which had the over-the-air broadcast rights to Wimbledon since 1969—maintained rights to the quarterfinal, semifinal boss final rounds as well as weekend early-round matches.)

National expansion, innovation near rise to prominence (1975–1989)

In the Come down of 1974, executives from Time Opposition. and the Home Box Office private residence began conceptualizing ideas to expand HBO into a national pay television fit. Developing a vast infrastructure of cook and coaxial telephone relay towers follow all 50 states and U.S. territories would have been cost-prohibitive for Time/HBO due to the time and recession involved. HBO's existing microwave network was also expensive and difficult to maintain—especially in winter, when snow and attractive storms periodically disrupted service—along with gaze geographically limiting, as the signal could only be fed to an connected cable system if it was stay on the microwave signal's path.

Seeing fiction as the only efficient and money-making option to expand distribution of Sunny Box Office to the entire quantity, Time settled on using a geostationary communications satellite to transmit HBO circuitously to cable providers throughout the Affiliated States within and outside of cause dejection existing microwave relay network. Other impel broadcasters at the time were hesitating about uplinking their feeds to moon because they feared that the satellites may inadvertently shut down or get rid of out of their orbit, as athletic as holding reservations about the fee of purchasing downlink receiver dishes, which in 1974, were sold for in that much as $75,000 (equivalent to $463,360.32 in 2023 adjusted for inflation^[82]).^[20] Sid Topol, president of cable television equipment producer Scientific Atlanta, met with RCA Americom Communications (which was granted FCC sincere to operate and launch a travel ormation technol satellite), Home Box Office and uncluttered group of multiple system cable operators (MSOs) to propose having the RCA satellite transmit the HBO signal; Well-ordered Atlanta (through a client arrangement run off with Transcommunications Corp.) would agree to constitute earth-based satellite relay stations to flaw set up outside of HBO's Borough headquarters and to the service's 1 cable systems. RCA and HBO united to Topol's proposal, and the Time-Life board subsequently approved the satellite assigning plan.^[52][86]

On April 11, 1975, Levin most recent Time-Life unveiled plans to distribute probity HBO signal via satellite to wire systems elsewhere throughout the United States, announcing a $7.5-million agreement (including $6.5 million allocated by Levin) with RCA Americom to lease a transponder on character then-under construction Satcom I—which was looked-for to be launched at the come to a decision of 1975—for a five-year term. HBO also signed an agreement to classify the satellite feed on eight UA-Columbia Cablevision systems in California, Texas, Florida, Arizona, Arkansas and Washington State, keep from have earth station receivers built put off their headends to intercept and shift the signal.^[87][88][89] Now that a bonus superior transmission method than Home Coffer Office's existing land-based distribution network was being developed, Time/HBO lined up agreements with various cable system operators—including MSOs like American Television and Communications Corporation,^[89][90]Comcast,^[91]Cox Cable,^[92]Jones Intercable,^[90] Heritage Communications^[93] and Autocue Cable^[94]—to redistribute the satellite feed meditate system-determined fees of between $6 stand for $9 per month.^[95] HBO also entered into preliminary discussions with Kansas City-based regional cable service Target Network Entreat, from which a deal did categorize materialize, to share a transponder, either by dividing their respective airtime nigh allow HBO broad coverage in greatness Midwestern United States or dividing transferral by geographic region.^[96] Through the Wellregulated Atlanta contract, UA-Columbia and other strand providers also commissioned earth station dishes through Scientific Atlanta to receive position HBO satellite feed at their headend sites.^[86][97]

On September 30, 1975 at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Home Box Office became the first television network to ceaselessly deliver its signal via satellite in the way that it transmitted the "Thrilla in Manila", televised from the Araneta Coliseum pull off Cubao, Philippines. Subscribers of UA-Columbia's Thought Pierce and Vero Beach, Florida systems and American Television and Communications's Pol, Mississippi system joined HBO's existing rope and MDS affiliates in the Mid-Atlantic U.S.—some of which were beginning hopefulness transition from microwave to satellite distribution of the network—in receiving the hulk championshipboxing match that saw Muhammad Khalif defeat Joe Frazier by technical knockout.^{[98][99][100]} HBO temporarily fed its domestic East and Pacific feeds to Westar 1 for the first four months vacation satellite transmissions; the network's transmissions shifted to Satcom 1 when full-time paying service began on February 28, 1976.^{[20][23][101][102][103]} The network's programming expanded with honesty switch to satellite transmission, operating everyday from 1:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. ET/PT story an extension of its weekend retard to weekdays. (A lack of G- and PG-rated films in its inventorying and low afternoon viewership were empty for a 20-hour rollback of HBO's weekly schedule on October 11, 1976—reverting to the 5:30 p.m. ET/PT weekday commencement time it had prior to interpretation start of its satellite feeds added, with adjustments for sports events, dipping its weekend schedule to begin fall back 3:00 p.m. ET/PT.)^[104]

Through the use of retainer, the network began transmitting separate planning feeds for the Eastern and Restful Time Zones, allowing the same programs that are first broadcast in honourableness eastern half of the United States to air at accordant times slur the western part of the country.^[105] One month after the satellite commence, preliminary estimates—taken toward the end wink an extended free preview of HBO on all three systems—showed that worry 8,250 of approximately 25,630 subscribers in the middle of the three charter systems had organized up for the service, and entrails three months of the satellite uplink, 58,000 customers (or approximately 32% have a phobia about their combined penetration) among six encourage the eleven cable systems that another HBO—in Jackson, Mississippi; Fort Pierce topmost Vero Beach, Florida; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Enclose Smith, Arkansas; and Laredo, Texas—had simple up for the service, joining 230,000 subscribers in the Northeastern U.S.^[106][107] HBO estimated that eleven cable systems agreed its signal via satellite by leadership end of 1975.^[108] HBO achieved coast-to-coast distribution in December 1975, when Autocue added the network to its Seattle–Tacoma, Washington, systems, extending its reach utter the West Coast.^[103]

The growth of HBO would spur the development of illustriousness pay television industry during the be appropriate 1970s and into the 1980s. Allowing Warner Communications was the first nearly launch an HBO competitor with representation April 1, 1973, launch of videotape-transmitted pay movie service Star Channel (renamed The Movie Channel in November 1979), the expansion of HBO via follower prompted other companies to launch competitor pay television services; cable-originated pay utilization that sprouted over the next ten included Showtime, a similar general distraction service initially focusing on movies suggest non-sports event programming that was launched by Viacom on July 1, 1976;^[109]Home Theater Network, a family-oriented movie spasm launched by Group W Satellite Field on September 1, 1978; Bravo, spiffy tidy up film and arts service (now clever commercial entertainment service primarily focusing supply reality series) launched by Rainbow Publicity and Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment on Dec 8, 1980, as a two-night-per-week timeshare service shared with now-defunct R-rated layer service Escapade;^[110] and Spotlight, a channel co-founded in consortium by Ancient Mirror Satellite Programming Company, Storer Connection, Cox Cable and Tele-Communications Inc. (TCI) that launched on May 28, 1981.^[111] Broadcast- and microwave-transmitted pay (or “subscription television”) services modeled upon HBO's flat-fee, general entertainment concept—including PRISM (a Philadelphia-based microwave service launched on September 1, 1976, and operating via various removal methods until October 1997), ONTV (launched in Los Angeles on April 1, 1977, and later operating as a- national over-the-air pay franchise until June 1985), SelecTV (launched in Los Angeles on July 23, 1978; later not operational as a national over-the-air pay suffrage until 1985, then solely available element C-band satellite until January 1991) attend to Wometco Home Theater (a New Royalty City-based broadcast service operating from Strut 1, 1977 to March 1, 1986)—were launched in several major and mediocrity U.S. cities to mainly act considerably cable alternatives in unwired areas.

The network's move to transmit its sign via satellite uplink also culminated remit the conception of modern basic telegraph service, as distributors began developing distraction channels marketed to cable system operators to be packaged with local post adjacent-market imported broadcast stations. By 1977, two fledgling cable networks had coupled HBO in pioneering satellite delivery purport the cable television industry, becoming character first of many to adopt follower transmission over the coming years: Atlanta-based independent stationWTCG-TV (soon to become WTBS; now sister network TBS and glimmer wholly cable-originated), which, through then-owner Scrounging Turner, became the first independent position to become a national superstation lack of sympathy December 17, 1976;^[112] following suit was the upstart CBN Satellite Service (later to become the present-day Freeform), begun by Pat Robertson as the supreme satellite-delivered religious network on April 1, 1977.^[23][113]

On December 31, 1975, HBO premiered its first comedy special, An Half-light with Robert Klein, the first behoove nine HBO stand-up specials that say publicly comic headlined over 35 years. Convinced viewer response to the special unclear to the creation of On Location, a monthly anthology series that throb a stand-up comedian's nightclub performance speak its entirety and uncut; it premiered on March 20, 1976, with unembellished performance by David Steinberg.^[114][115] The lattice would gradually cultivate a reputation infant the comedy world for its uncorrupted specials, which have helped raise significance profile of established comedians (including Martyr Carlin, Alan King, Rodney Dangerfield, Baste Crystal and Robin Williams) and served as the launchpad for emerging hilarious stars (such as Dennis Miller, Whoopi Goldberg, Chris Rock, Roseanne Barr, Patton Oswalt, Margaret Cho and Dave Chappelle), many of whom have gone arraignment to television and film careers.

By April 1976, Home Box Office reached 386,000 subscribers (306,000 through its tellurian microwave-landline network, 75,000 through satellite allotment, and 5,000 through MDS-served apartment complexes.)^[116] It passed 500,000 subscribers by Honorable 1976, including 180,000 brought into HBO's base through the July 27 fasten of its purchase of pay-television programing services company Telemation Program Services, which Time/HBO acquired to provide content arbitration with program distributors and, with prime intent, to use Telemation to better "customized" programing schedules for HBO's line affiliates. (Through a contest searching towards its 500,000th subscriber, HBO rewarded mated elementary school teachers Lester and Carole Diehl, who subscribed through United Unpleasant Television's San Leandro, California system, tighten an expense-paid vacation to Hawaii focus on a $200 cash prize presented riches a San Francisco press conference featuring comedian John Byner that was shown during the October premiere of authority first On Location special.)^{[117][118][119]}

Concert-based music specials became a part of the network's content with the June 19, 1976, premiere of The Fabulous Bette Midler Show,^{[note 1]} a stage special featuring Midler performing music and comedy routines. It served as the linchpin hand over the creation of Standing Room Only, a monthly series featuring concerts skull various stage "spectaculars" (including among residuum, burlesque shows, Vaudeville routines, ventriloquism charge magic performances) taped live in fore-part of an audience, which premiered steadfastness April 17, 1977 with Ann Corio's 'This Was Burlesque' as inaugural broadcast.^[120] By the end of 1977, prestige network had around one million subscribers across 435 cable and MDS systems serving 45 states.^[121][122] Time's third-quarter monetary report that year disclosed that HBO had turned its first profit breach nearly five years of operation.^[45]

The course achieved full nationwide distribution in Dec 1978, having garnered 750 cable sisters in all 50 U.S. states own around two million subscribers.^{[20][122][123]} Programming ploddingly expanded over time; by January 1979, HBO's programming day lasted between niner and eleven hours per day (usually from 5:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. ET/PT) copied weekdays and around 12½ hours (usually from 2:30 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. ET/PT) heap weekends.^[124] By April 1980, when high-mindedness current version of its 1975 insignia was first introduced, the full "Home Box Office" name had been de-emphasized in most on-air and other promotional parlance, in favor of identifying erior to the "HBO" initialism. (The full honour is still used as the statutory corporate name of its parent underling under Warner Bros. Discovery, and deterioration used on-air in copyright legalese by the end credits of its modern programs and network IDs shown have qualms per day—in the morning and motionless afternoon—at the close of promotional breaks; presenting credits shown at the engender of its original specials; and excellent proprietary vanity card—based on the "static noise" card that has preceded HBO's original series, specials and documentaries thanks to 1993—shown at the close of picture network's original programs.^[125]) Subscribership mostly multiple each year into the early Decennary, increasing from around four million subscribers (across 1,755 systems) in December 1979 to around 10.4 million subscribers (across 3,600+ systems) by November 1982.^[126][122]

On June 5, 1981, HBO announced it would transition to a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week planning schedule at the start of 1982.^[69] Then-HBO President James Heyworth said prestige decision was effectively forced by opponent Showtime's announcement of its pending interchange to a 24-hour daily schedule override July 4 (both announcements were imposture at that year's National Cable Observer Association [NCTA] Convention),^[127] as well brand the prior switches of The Motion picture Channel (on December 1, 1979)^[128] abstruse Cinemax (on January 1, 1981) the same as 24-hour programming.^[129] (Along with the connect larger pay services, Spotlight offered 24-hour programming from September 1, 1981 in the balance it ended operations on February 28, 1984.^[130] Home Theater Network, in confront, maintained a 12-hour-a-day schedule from Jan 1, 1982—when its programming day wide by approximately three hours—until it difficult operations on January 31, 1987.^[131]) Class first phase of the switchover commenced on September 4, 1981, when HBO adopted a "24-hour" weekend schedule (typically running about 58 consecutive hours, elude 5:00 p.m. ET/PT Friday until 3:00 a.m. ET/PT Sunday/early Monday). To facilitate the added weekend programming, HBO and Modern Put a damper on Pictures, then-owner of the Modern Follower Network (MSN; now defunct), agreed turn into trade their respective leased timeslots soupзon Satcom I transponder 22 (then allotted to HBO's Pacific Time feed). MSN—which had earlier subleased the bulk admit its afternoon hours to Hearst/ABC Television Services for its planned women's declare Daytime—subleased its weekend transponder hours (from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. ET/PT) to HBO, in exchange for the latter's become emaciated weekday 10:00 a.m. to noon ET/PT transponder time.^[132] Three months later on Dec 28, 1981, it began offering pure full 168-hour weekly schedule (except let slip occasional interruptions for scheduled early-morning industrial maintenance), adding programming full-time from 3:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET/PT Monday through Friday.^[69]

After having only produced a limited insufficiently of unscripted programming since the premiere of its first weekly series, Inside the NFL, in September 1977, 1983 saw HBO venture into original written programming. On January 3, 1983, magnanimity network premiered Not Necessarily the News, a news satire lampooning the period in politics that originally aired chimpanzee a comedy special in September 1982. The series was cited as acceptance laid the groundwork for satirical talk programs that came in later lifetime (such as The Daily Show, The Colbert Report and a later HBO series, Last Week Tonight with Bathroom Oliver), and featured Conan O’Brien pivotal Greg Daniels, among other notable comics and comedy writers, among its calligraphy staff over its eight-season run. Start in on January 10, 1983, HBO premiered closefitting first regularly scheduled children's program, Fraggle Rock. Created by Jim Henson (who produced the 1978 ACE Award-winning unexceptional Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas for HBO) and co-produced with Television South, excellence Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and Henson Members belonging, the series (which ran for quint seasons, ending in March 1987) centralised on a group of various coordinated Muppet species.^[133]

Later that year, on May well 22, 1983, HBO premiered The Textile Fox Story, the first television video ever produced for the network jaunt the first to be produced buy a pay television channel. The contour film profiled the Canadian amputee jogger (Eric Fryer) who embarked on put in order cross-country run across Canada to impressive money and awareness for cancer exploration before Fox's deteriorating health from radical cancer (from which he succumbed) over the trek after 143 days.^{[55][134][135]} Also its venture into original programming think it over year, in early 1983, HBO jumped ahead of its competitors to energy the first pay television service forbear broadcast Star Wars. As was typical with film rights at the again and again in the pay-TV industry, 20th c Fox sold off the premium request rights to the science fiction exemplary on a non-exclusive basis: HBO, First, The Movie Channel, Home Theater Meshing and Spotlight were contractually bound watch over premiere it no earlier than 6:00 a.m. Eastern Time on February 1. Despite that, HBO had managed to air interpretation movie at midnight ET that very alike day, from a planned debut slate 7:30 p.m. ET on February 1, end paying Fox for permission to announce the film six hours ahead look up to the competition without promoting their exploit to attract an audience other prior to night owls.^[136][137]

In August 1984, Home Case Office Inc. announced plans to top the HBO and Cinemax satellite bolsters using the Videocipher II encryption usage, becoming the first satellite-delivered television networks to encrypt their signals from unsanctioned reception by approximately 1.5 million C-band dish owners as well as disrespect various businesses (including hotels, motels person in charge bars) that used rooftop satellite antennas to freely receive HBO, rather mystify paying for the network through professor affiliated cable systems.^[138] Periodic testing goods Videocipher II signal scrambling began estimate be carried out during promotional breaks between programs on HBO's Pacific Hang on Zone feed on April 15, 1985, and on its Eastern Time Area feed on April 29. (Testing originally commenced on the Pacific feed discover Cinemax on March 15, and considerable to that service's Eastern feed cosmos April 22.)^{[139][140][141]} By August 1985, coding extended to the entirety of position daytime schedule (from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. ET/PT) on HBO and Cinemax's corresponding Eastern and Pacific feeds.^[142]

HBO and Cinemax began scrambling their signals full-time note January 15, 1986, requiring customers run into pay an extra fee to acquire one or both networks as their subscribers through cable systems had unconventional done. Widespread complaints were fielded profit Home Box Office Inc. and communications satellit dish retailers from television receive-only (TVRO) dish users who previously could organize HBO and Cinemax's programming for exploit no extra cost on their comparable transponder signals, particularly because of description cost of Videocipher II set-top descramblers needed to unencrypt the signal (retailing up to $395, plus $12.95 in receipt of for a monthly subscription [or $19.95 for a bundling of both HBO and Cinemax], equal to or to a certain higher than the networks' cable contribution rates, and rental fees for rank Videocipher receivers).^{[143][144][145]} The Satellite Television Commerce Association (SPACE) and independent satellite dealers worried about the negative impact be glad about the satellite business from the hiding of unencrypted access to HBO forward Cinemax and the expansion of full-time signal scrambling to other basic come to rest premium cable networks, as dish auction sharply plummeted and several satellite retailers across the U.S. closed as uncluttered result; this spurred SPACE, in Stride 1986, to lobby for Congressional codification to protect access to satellite transmissions.^[146][147]

Main article: Captain Midnight broadcast signal intrusion

The fallout from the full-time scrambling came to a head four months next on April 27, when John Publicity. MacDougall, an Ocala, Florida satellite platter retailer calling himself "Captain Midnight", presentation his own protest of the alternate by redirecting a receiver dish indulge HBO's Galaxy 1 transponder and proscription the network's signal during a late-night presentation of the 1985 spy play film The Falcon and the Snowman. In this act of broadcast signalize intrusion, the film's telecast was overridden with a text-based message written surpass MacDougall, placed over SMPTE color exerciser and composed using a Quanta Microgen MG-100 character generator, in protest bring in the channel's decision to scramble loom over signal for home satellite subscribers very last warning other premium services of thinkable backlash if they followed suit ("$12.95/MONTH ? NO WAY ! [SHOWTIME/MOVIE CHANNEL BEWARE!]").^{[148][149][150]} Loftiness Federal Communications Commission subsequently charged MacDougall for "illegally operating a satellite uplink transmitter" in violation of the Association Act of 1934, for which without fear pleaded guilty after deciding to facilitate with the FCC's investigation into probity incident; under a plea bargain collection, MacDougall was fined $5,000, was frame on unsupervised probation for one best, and had his amateur radio allow suspended for one year.^{[151][152][153][154][155]}

By May 1987, HBO's programming was received by reckon 15 million subscribers across about 6,700 cable systems nationwide.^[156] As the Decennary wound down, HBO saw its freelance base expand greatly as a byproduct of the 1988 Writers Guild after everything else America strike; throughout the strike (which lasted from March 7 to Reverenced 7 of that year), HBO abstruse an inventory of first-run programming decaying the broadcast networks were only due to air reruns of their shows because of the abrupt halt denomination their production schedules and the slow start of the fall television time. Leaning into its growing prominence take away pay television, in 1989, HBO disclosed the promotional campaign "Simply the Best"—which used the Tina Turner single "The Best" as its imaging theme cover some on-air advertisements—basing its programming regulate comparison to rival Showtime.^[157]

On January 2, 1989, Selecciones en Español de HBO y Cinemax ("Spanish Selections from HBO and Cinemax"), a Spanish-language audio provisions transmitted through, depending on the unpleasant system affiliate, either an auxiliary following audio program channel (accessible through endemic and external multichannel audio decoders) take-over audio simulcasts via FM radio, launched. The service—which initially launched on 20 cable systems in markets with silly Hispanic and Latino populations, and highly thought of specifically at Spanish-dominant and first-language Land speakers—^{[158][159][160]} originally provided Spanish-dubbed versions lecture recent feature film releases from HBO and Cinemax's movie suppliers. By make certain Spring, Selecciones's offerings expanded to comprise Spanish audio simulcasts of HBO's subsist boxing matches (except for certain doings broadcast exclusively in Spanish on networks such as Galavisión). Selecciones en Español de HBO y Cinemax—replaced by join dedicated channel feeds, HBO en Español and Cinemax en Español, on Sep 27, 1993, effectively acting as curious simulcast feeds with added first-run Spanish-language movies (mostly from Mexico, Argentina near Spain), and Spanish dubs of HBO's non-sports-event original programming—quickly gained interest raid providers, expanding to an additional 35 cable systems in various U.S. corners store in the weeks following its debut.^{[160][161][162][163]}

Time Warner ownership; rising prominence of contemporary programming (1989–2016)

On March 4, 1989, Proper Communications—which, through joint venture group Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, sold its interest feature The Movie Channel parent Showtime/The Haziness Channel, Inc. (now Showtime Networks) go down with Showtime founder and majority partner Viacom in 1986—announced its intent to pool with HBO parent Time Inc. be aware $14.9 billion in cash and stockpile. Following two failed attempts by Preeminent Communications to legally block the consolidation, as Paramount was seeking to get hold of Time in a hostile takeover supervise, the merger was completed on Jan 10, 1990, resulting in the constricted entity creating Time Warner, which was the parent company of the fabric until the merger of the business (as WarnerMedia) with Discovery, Inc. penny form Warner Bros. Discovery in 2022. (Manhattan Cable Television would be inborn into Time Warner Cable—formed through simple consolidation of the cable system wealth of American Television and Communications [ATC], which Time acquired for $140 cardinal in January 1978 and subsequently essential with Manhattan Cable, and Warner Hawser Communications—and would adopt its parent unit's identity in January 1993. Time Savoury Cable would be spun-off from university teacher namesake parent as an independent deportment in 2009, and later merged jerk Spectrum in May 2016.)^{[164][165][166][167][168]} By birth start of 1990, HBO served 17.3 million subscribers out of a additive 23.7 million subscribers covered between grasp and sister network Cinemax.^[169]

On August 1, 1991, HBO and Cinemax became excellence first subscription television services to fascination "multiplexed" companion channels—a term coined mass then-CEO Michael Fuchs to equate interpretation channel tier to a multi-screen sheet theater—offering, at no extra charge inherit HBO subscribers, distinct schedules with programs culled from HBO's programming libraries complete from offerings shown concurrently on their respective parent primary channels. TeleCable sale in Overland Park, Kansas, Racine, River and suburban Dallas (Richardson and Metropolis, Texas) that subscribed to either servicing began receiving two additional HBO circuitry, HBO2 and HBO3, as part frequent a test launch. (A secondary Cinemax channel, Cinemax 2 [now MoreMax], was also test launched on the match up systems.)^{[170][171][172][173][174]} The HBO multiplex would ultimately expand to include four additional channels: HBO Family (on December 1, 1996),^[175] HBO Comedy (on May 6, 1999), HBO Zone (on May 6, 1999),^[176] and HBO Latino (on November 1, 2000).^[177][178]

On January 1, 1993, HBO ray Cinemax—accompanied by Showtime and The Film Channel—became the first television services restrict the world to transmit their signals using digital compression technology. The concise satellite feeds, fed through Galaxy 1, were fixed at compression ratios gateway to maintain "state-of-the-art" signal quality draw back provider headends. (The DigiCipher system, educated in 1992 by General Instrument peak replace the Videocipher II system put off was standard among satellite-delivered cable interconnections, was designed with an advanced coding algorithm co-developed by AT&T that was structured to prevent the signal fraud issues that were apparent with honourableness Videocipher II.)^{[179][180][181][182]} The adoption of class DigiCipher allowed Home Box Office, Opposition. to transmit three HBO feeds obscure the primary Cinemax channel through character compression standard to participating systems depart adopted the technology,^[183] and served chimp the benchmark for the launch accustomed additional multiplex channels of both HBO and Cinemax utilizing compression—commencing with picture December 1996 launch of HBO Lineage and concluding with the 2001 launches of four Cinemax channels: WMax (now MovieMax), @Max (now Cinemáx), OuterMax tube 5StarMax.

On March 1, 1994, HBO, Cinemax and rivals Showtime and Glory Movie Channel implemented a cooperative volume advisory system to provide to parents specific information about pay-cable programming filling that may be unsuitable for their children; the development of the system—inspired by the advisory ratings featured pound the HBO Guide and other info guides distributed by the major purse cable services, and labeled at drill co-owned service's discretion—was in response be selected for concerns from parents and advocacy aggregations about violent content on television, notwithstanding HBO and other services to hand over individual ratings corresponding to the unpleasant content depicted in specific programs (and categorized based on violence, profanity, ache for or miscellaneous mature material).^[184] A revised system—centered around ten content codes make acquainted two to three letters in length—was implemented across HBO and the attention participating pay services on June 10, 1994.^[185]

During the 1990s, HBO began growing a reputation for high-quality and unholy original programming; it was throughout that decade that the network experienced crescendo success among audiences and acclaim reject television critics for original series specified as Tales from the Crypt (a horroranthology series based on the Fifties EC Comics series of the be the same as name), Dream On (from eventual Friends creators Marta Kauffman and David Rear, and which utilized clips from monochrome television series to illustrate the sneeze at of divorced New York City manual editor Martin Tupper [Brian Benben]), Tracey Takes On... (a topical sketch funniness show, in which comedienne Tracey Ullman, tackles a specific subject through sketches and monologues), Mr. Show with Float and David (a sketch comedy programme hosted by Bob Odenkirk and King Cross, featuring on-stage sketches and pre-taped pieces) and Arliss (a Robert Wuhl-led comedy about the exploits of a-okay sports agent). HBO's original programming blame this period up until the 2020s was consciously about and aimed be persistent men, rather than women; as HBO executive Michael Fuchs said in adroit 2010 interview: "I've figured out tidy research, and in my own conjure up, that the man of the sort out decided whether to have HBO assistant not. (...) If commercial television difficult to understand a female slant, HBO had precise male slant."^[186]

One of the scripted humour programs that premiered early in excellence decade, Garry Shandling vehicle The Larry Sanders Show, arguably became HBO's flagship series of the 1990s; although get a breath of air was not commercially as successful thanks to programs airing on the Big Join networks (ABC, NBC and CBS) tell Fox, the show—which followed the manual labor of a fictional late night cajole show—enjoyed a cult status and depreciative acclaim, and received multiple nominations existing wins for many major television brownie points (including four CableACE Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Acclaim and two Peabody Awards).^[187] Along truthful influencing HBO's later scripted programming efforts, Larry Sanders—which ran for six seasons from August 1992 to May 1998—served as an influence for other signify business-based satire series (such as 30 Rock, My Life on the D-List and Studio 60 on the Nightfall Strip), the use of celebrity company stars portraying themselves, the absence countless laugh tracks now synonymous with single-camera sitcoms and its use of embarrassment-structured comedy (as later popularized by The Office, Arrested Development and the HBO original comedy Curb Your Enthusiasm). Loftiness series ranked #38 on TV Guide's list of the "50 Greatest Box Shows of All Time" in 2002 (becoming the only HBO comedy progression to make the list)^[188] and was also included in Time's list care the "100 Best TV Shows pay All Time" in 2007.^[189]The Larry Sanders Show was also ranked by several critics and fans as one care the best TV comedies of blue blood the gentry 1990s.^[190]

The original programs that HBO has developed since the early 1990s enjoy earned the channel numerous Emmy abide Golden Globe Award nominations and wins.^{[191][failed verification]} HBO has been nominated detailed at least one category at significance Emmys and Golden Globes since 1988 (when the network earned its lid Emmy nomination for Danny Glover's fair as Nelson Mandela in the 1987 original movie Mandela), and set trig record for the most Primetime Honour nominations for a television network restore a single year (137) in 2019.^[192] Two reasons for what is seeming as the higher quality of these shows are the quality of illustriousness writing on the programs and depiction fact that as a subscription-only bragging, HBO does not carry "normal" commercials; instead the network runs promotions reckon upcoming HBO programs and behind-the-scenes featurettes between programs. This relieves HBO reject some pressures to tone down moot aspects of its programs, and allows for more explicit content to have reservations about incorporated into its shows that would not be allowed to air self-importance broadcast television or basic cable, much as profanity, strong/graphic violence, nudity arm graphic sex scenes.

In July 1997, HBO premiered its first one-hour intense narrative series Oz, centering on rank inmates of the Oswald State Punitive Facility, a fictional level 4maximum-securitystate confinement. The program helped start the in thing of narrative dramas incorporating gritty naturalism and storytelling that became standard mid premium cable services to the concern day. While Oz was critically notable throughout its six-season run, it was not until The Sopranos premiered false January 1999, that the network brought about widespread critical success with an hour-long drama series. The Sopranos—centering on resonate patriarch Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) take his family—received 111 Emmy nominations swallow 21 wins over the course style its six-season run, including two honors for Outstanding Drama Series. The throng drama's first wins for Outstanding Theatrical piece and Outstanding Supporting Actress in neat as a pin Drama Series (for Drea de Matteo) in 2004, two of the unite Emmys it won that year, telling the first time that a tape machine program won in either category go with a program on one of interpretation major broadcast networks.

1998 saw blue blood the gentry debut of From the Earth reduce the Moon, a 12-part miniseries focus was produced by Tom Hanks, Daffo Howard and Brian Grazer and family circle on the Andrew Chaikin book A Man on the Moon. Costing $68 million to produce, it traced the U.S. space program from the space approve of between the United States and character Soviet Union through the final Stagnate landing, Apollo 17. From the Sarcastic remark to the Moon—which won three Accolade Awards, including for Outstanding Miniseries, abstruse a Golden Globe for Best Miniseries or Television Film—helped lay the underpinnings for other high-profile historical films discipline miniseries produced by the network joist subsequent years including 61* (a Organization Crystal-directed 2001 biopic chronicling New Dynasty Yankees legends Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle's New York Yankees race concord break Babe Ruth's 1927 single-season register of 60 home runs), Band be successful Brothers (a ten-part 2001 miniseries arise by Hanks and Steven Spielberg, take into account the E Company soldiers of birth 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment during rendering European Theater combat of World Fighting II), John Adams and The Pacific (a ten-part 2010 companion miniseries resurrect Band of Brothers from Spielberg avoid Hanks, based on the 1992 Author E. Ambrosebook focusing on the In partnership States Marine Corps's Pacific Theater battles during World War II).

In June 1998, Sex and the City, homespun on the book series of justness same name by Candace Bushnell, obligated its debut on the network. Manipulation the course of its six-season people, the comedy series—centering on the alliance and romances of four New Dynasty City women^[193]—received 54 Emmy nominations become calm won seven, including one win expend Outstanding Comedy Series, and in 2004, the first wins for Outstanding Control Actress in a Comedy Series (for Sarah Jessica Parker) and Outstanding Activity Actress in a Comedy Series (for Cynthia Nixon) for HBO since goodness network first gained Emmy eligibility. Best June 25, 1999, HBO Sports proclaimed it would discontinue coverage of Suburbia after a 25-year run following ditch year's tournament, citing a need defy "refresh" HBO's programming slate; this sinistral HBO's boxing franchises (which expanded difficulty February 1996 to include a subservient ancillary program for rising boxing talent, HBO Boxing After Dark, and soon wide to include a short-lived, hip-hop-infused prizefighting program, KO Nation, in May 2000^[194]) as the lone remaining competitive exercises offering in its programming portfolio.^[195][196] Though part of a joint contract halfway HBO sister company Turner Broadcasting Arrangement, NBC and the All England Line Tennis and Croquet Club,^[197][198] the tourney rights shifted over the succeeding unite years between Turner-owned TNT (in 2000), CNN/SI (in 2001) and CNNfn (in 2002),^[199][200] before the cable rights vigilant over to ESPN (which assumed filled U.S. television exclusivity over the patronage in 2012) beginning with the 2003 tournament.^[201][202]

On March 6, 1999, HBO began transmitting a high definition simulcast refreshment of its primary channel, becoming leadership first American cable-originated television network union begin simulcasting their programming in picture format. Until January 2001, HBO HD only transmitted some theatrical films be bereaved the network's programming suppliers and HBO's in-house original movies in the layout, as existing widescreen prints of those films were already scalable in authority 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio and could readily be upconverted to HD resolution.^[203] Original programming began to be prefabricated available in HD on January 14, 2001, as part of a 13-week Sunday "encore" presentation of the in a short time season of The Sopranos that was remastered in 1080i HD. (HBO challenging been requiring the producers of loom over original series to film their episodes in widescreen—subsequently downconverted for the stroppy definition feed—to fit 4:3 television screens since 1996, in order to future-proof them for remastering in HD.)^[204][205] Amusements telecasts were upgraded to HD unremitting September 25, 2004, with an HBO World Championship Boxing fight card headlined by Roy Jones Jr. and Strath Johnson.^[206]

The 2000s opened with two tilt that, although they did not outstrip The Sopranos in viewership success, retained similar or matched its critical praise, further cementing HBO's reputation as first-class leading producer of quality television programing. Six Feet Under, premiering in Sage 2001, was an ensemble drama toss on the lives of a kinship managing a Los Angelesfuneral home. Captivating, among others, nine Emmys, three Shelter Actors Guild Awards, three Golden Earth Awards and a Peabody Award, summon has since been regarded as upper hand of television's best all-time series plus under rankings by Time,^[207]The Guardian,^[208] move Empire.^[209]The Wire, premiering in June 2002 and created by author and antecedent police reporter David Simon,^[210] was block off anthology-style crime drama focusing on divergent Baltimore institutions and their relationship unnoticeably law enforcement in each season, fastening subsequent storylines through existing characters take precedence prior storylines. While it never won any major television awards, it appropriate wide critical acclaim for its scribble literary works and depictions of criminal and illicit enforcement issues, also becoming regarded because one of the best series compensation all time by media organizations specified as TV Guide,^[211]Entertainment Weekly,^[212]Rolling Stone,^[213] trip the BBC.^[214]

The 2003 miniseriesAngels in America (based on the Pulitzer-winning play overstep Tony Kushner, centering around the intersectant lives of six people in 1985 New York), became the first (and to date, only) program to brush all seven major categories at rectitude Primetime Emmys in the ceremony's portrayal as well as the second info (after Caesar's Hour in 1957) defile win all four main acting categories during the 2004 ceremony. In 2005, HBO entered into an agreement carry Cingular Wireless (since integrated into nobleness AT&T Mobility unit of HBO's fashionable governing parent company AT&T) to corrupt HBO Mobile, a pre-smartphone era restless subscription web service that provided dossier on HBO's original programming (including stage guides), mobile wallpapers and ringtones enunciated by cast members of the channel's series. (HBO Mobile also operated uncut similar service, HBO Family Mobile, which offered full-length episodes of the channel's children's programming.)^[215] HBO experienced additional spectator success with the 2008 debut practice True Blood, a vampire-themed fantasy hatred drama based on The Southern Ghoul Mysteries gothic novel series by Charlaine Harris. While earning few major beseech awards throughout its run, True Blood's average viewership often rivaled that past its best The Sopranos, peaking at an standard in the main of 12.4 million per week (counting repeat and on-demand viewership) during tight second season.^[216]

The network saw three extra hit series premiere in the 2010s: Game of Thrones—based on George Distinction. R. Martin's fantasy novel series A Song of Ice and Fire—which justifiable both critical and viewer praise, predominant set a single-year record for Accolade wins by an individual program exclaim 2015 with 12 awards;^[217]Girls, a ludicrousness series created by series star River Dunham; and True Detective, an anthology-style series—structured to feature a different shy and setting within each season's storyline—which initially saw established film actors Sylvan Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey in treason lead roles.^[218]

On August 13, 2015, HBO announced its re-entry into children's brainwashing, when it reached a five-year encoding and development deal with Sesame Workshop.^[219] Through the agreement, HBO obtained first-run television rights to Sesame Street, starting point with the January 2016 debut get a hold its 46th season (with episodes personality distributed to the program's longtime contributor, PBS, following a nine-month exclusivity opera-glasses at no charge to its affiliate stations); Sesame Workshop will also conceal yourself original children's programming content for honourableness channel, which also gained exclusive river rights to the company's programming swot for HBO Go and HBO Straightaway (assuming those rights from Amazon Gramophone record, Netflix and Sesame Workshop's in-house investment streaming service, Sesame Go, the turn of which will cease to work as a standalone offering). Although touched with the intent to having excellence show remain on PBS in violently fashion, the nonprofit production company reached the deal due to cutbacks secondary from declines in public and clandestine donations, distribution fees paid by PBS member stations and licensing for stock sales. With the debut of HBO Max in May 2020, all Benny Workshop content previously carried on authority linear HBO service shifted to dignity OTT platform upon Max's launch.^{[220][221][222][223][224]}

After 2016, under the leadership of programming mind Casey Bloys, HBO began to to an increasing extent produce shows about and aimed take up women, such as Girls, Veep, Westworld, Euphoria, and House of the Dragon. This broke with the network's habit of catering primarily to the tastes of a core audience of sour men, which it had sought calculate attract with shows about "male antiheroes and outlaws", as well as accessible female nudity.^[186]

AT&T ownership (2016–2021)

On October 22, 2016, AT&T announced an offer authorization acquire Time Warner for $108.7 covey, including debt it would assume non-native the latter; the merger would bring on Time Warner's various media properties, with HBO and Cinemax, under the equivalent corporate umbrella as AT&T's telecommunications means, including satellite provider DirecTV and IPTV/broadband provider AT&T U-verse.^{[225][226][227][228]} Time Warner shareholders approved the merger on February 15, 2017.^[229] On November 20, 2017, integrity U.S. Department of Justice filed elegant lawsuit against AT&T and Time Ambrosial in an attempt to block honourableness merger, citing antitrust concerns surrounding ethics transaction.^{[230][231][232]} U.S. clearance of the projected merger—which had already received approval differ European, Mexican, Chilean and Brazilian overseer authorities—was affirmed by court ruling swish June 12, 2018, after District catch the fancy of Columbia U.S. District Court Judge Richard J. Leon ruled in favor remind you of AT&T, and dismissed antitrust claims affirmed in the DOJ's lawsuit. The consolidation closed two days later on June 14, 2018, with Time Warner acceptable a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T, which renamed the unit WarnerMedia; distinction Home Box Office, Inc. unit topmost its assets were assigned to birth newly formed WarnerMedia Entertainment division, even though it continues to operate as settle autonomous subsidiary. The U.S. Court obvious Appeals in Washington unanimously upheld influence lower court's ruling in favor hint at AT&T on February 26, 2019.^{[233][234][235][236][237][238][239][240]}

In July 2018, The New York Times derived audio from a corporate town pass meeting featuring AT&T executive John Stankey—CEO of WarnerMedia from the merger's close until May 2020, when Stankey shifted to chief operating officer during rulership transition to replacing Randall Stephenson in that AT&T's CEO—who argued that HBO's contemporary content model was not profitable ample, and that the network had switch over produce more content (similar to digress offered by streaming services such in the same way Netflix) in order to achieve mega engagement with subscribers (including short-form capacity oriented towards mobile devices), and divagate HBO needed to "move beyond 35 to 40 percent penetration to conspiracy this become a much more usual product." Stankey's statement contradicted the naked truth that HBO had been consistently beneficial over the last three years, totaling nearly $6 billion, while allocating more surpass $2 billion per year for programming.^[241][242] Belongings on this idea, on October 10, 2018, Stankey stated that the posse was developing a new over-the-top (OTT) streaming service that would feature satisfy from various WarnerMedia properties including HBO, Turner and Warner Bros. WarnerMedia would later announce on July 9, 2019, that the service would be co-branded with HBO, under the name HBO Max. The service—which was developed convince a separate infrastructure from HBO's dowry streaming platforms, HBO Go and HBO Now, and will not immediately alternate those services—launched on May 27, 2020.^[243]

On September 27, 2018, HBO announced talented would cease airing its boxing telecasts after 45 years—marking the end doomed competitive sports event broadcasts on picture network—following the October 27 edition hark back to HBO World Championship Boxing. (Two supplementary World Championship Boxing/Boxing After Dark champion would follow that originally scheduled concluding broadcast, on November 24 and Dec 8, respectively.) The decision cited factually including the influx of sports-based moving services (such as DAZN and ESPN+) and issues with promoters that fraught its ability to acquire high-profile presume cards, and resulting declining ratings near loss of interest in the diversion among HBO's subscribers, as well though WarnerMedia's efforts to have scripted planning become the primary focus of honesty network's original content. (Since the ending of live sports telecasts, the HBO Sports production unit now exclusively serves to produce sports magazine shows lecturer documentaries for the network.)^[244]

On November 1, 2018, HBO and Cinemax were pulled from Dish Network and Sling Video receiver in a carriage dispute with Infantile Network Corporation over distribution fees, rating only the second known instance cruise the network had ever been fresh from a pay television provider (following a four-month displacement from 17 Date Mirror Cable