Hbo channel biography

History of the American reward television network

Main article: HBO

HBO is above all American premium televisionnetwork that is say publicly flagship property of Home Box Business, Inc., a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. The network primarily broadcasts exaggeratedly releasedmotion pictures and originaltelevision programs though well as made-for-cable movies, documentaries, casual stand-up comedy and concertspecials, and recurring interstitial programs (consisting of short pictures and making-of documentaries). HBO does mass accept traditional advertising, although programming booms are typically aired between shows; scratch out a living also presents content without editing use profanity, violence, sexual depictions, nudity, treatment use or other subjectively objectionable textile, which—besides being able to depict fullfledged subject matter usually not allowed perfect 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 quail subscription television service in the Concerted States, Home Box Office pioneered recent pay television when it launched bit a microwave-transmitted regional service (initially debuting in northeastern Pennsylvania, before gradually development its coverage area to encompass more of the northern Mid-Atlantic and austral New England regions) on November 8, 1972, and was a leader superimpose the development and growth of nobility cable television industry as the have control over television service to be directly familial and distributed to individual cable systems; the first television channel in description world to begin transmitting its advise via communications satellite; the first allocation television network to operate a standalone companion service (Take 2, now defunct; followed later by Cinemax and influence now-defunct Festival); the first cable-originated path to win Emmy, Golden Globe explode Peabody Awards; and one of excellence first two American pay television help (alongside Cinemax) to offer multiplexed grid complementary to the parent service.

HBO has since expanded to include digit multiplex channels in the United States; and, through its namesake parent company, twelve active and three defunct universal services (either owned by Warner Bros. Discovery directly or through programming added brand licensing agreements with domestic public relations companies) across four continents, and many television, film and home entertainment ventures. This article details the history asset HBO tracing to its founding hard Sterling Communications (founded in 1950 tempt Sterling Movies U.S.A; then controlled via Time Inc.) in July 1971, reprove its operational history from the channel's November 1972 launch to its drift ownership by Warner Bros. Discovery, Opposition.

Background, development and preparation to aura (pre-1972)

HBO's origins trace to December 1, 1965, when Charles Dolan—a former vendor and distributor of sports and developed films for television syndication, who esoteric already done pioneering work in say publicly commercial use of cables—was granted spick franchise permit by the New Royalty City Council to build a telegram television system encompassing the Lower Borough section of New York City (traversing southward from 79th Street on justness Upper East Side to 86th Coordination on the Upper West Side). Dolan was one of three applicants put up be awarded cable franchise permits be oblivious to the City of New York eagleeyed that date, joined by TelePrompTer Crowded (which was assigned most of Damned Manhattan) and CATV Enterprises Inc. (which was assigned to a portion censure the city's Upper West Side, affable north of the Harlem River, snowball The Bronx's Riverdale neighborhood). Dolan challenging been directly involved in telecasting by reason of he launched his maiden television put on, Teleguide, in June 1962; transmitted at hand closed-circuit television, the Teleguide service meet up a schedule of tourist information, information, interview segments and feature interstitials preempt hotels, and by 1964, apartment water-closet and office buildings in the Virgin York metropolitan area.^[1][2][3]

Through Dolan's company, Pure Information Services (operated by Teleguide steep Sterling Movies U.S.A., it renamed Fine Communications in 1967), Manhattan Cable Boob tube Services began limited cable service back September 1966. Manhattan Cable (renamed Sound Manhattan Cable Television in January 1971) was the first urban underground radiogram television system to operate in excellence United States.^[4][5] Rather than string deal with cable on telephone poles or bushy microwave antennas to receive the signals, Sterling had laid new cable kill time beneath the streets of and jolt buildings throughout Manhattan, and repurposed Teleguide's existing cable infrastructure for use impervious to the new operation. Sterling's use mention underground cables complied with a longstanding New York City Council ordinance—originally enforced to prevent broad-scale telephone and telegraphy outages, after a severe blizzard pitiful the Northeastern United States in Pace 1888 had caused widespread damage get at above-ground utility lines in the area—requiring all electrical and telecommunication wiring put a stop to be laid underground to limit weather-related service disruptions, and was also necessitated because the multitude of tall rest room on Manhattan Island subjected television signals to reception impairments.^[6]

Dolan curried the pecuniary backing of Time-Life, Inc. (then blue blood the gentry book publishing unit of Time Inc.), resulting in Manhattan Cable becoming ambush of the company's first cable formula properties. Despite the investments from Time-Life's share of Sterling (initially 20% pleasing the beginning of operations), Sterling Borough consistently lost money throughout its chief six years of operation; the group incurred much of its debt strange underground wiring expenses (costing as yet as $300,000 per mile), and fraudulence difficulties attracting new subscribers to constitute income (Manhattan Cable managed to hire only around 400 customers by 1967).^[6][7][8] On August 27, 1969, in monumental ownership consolidation of the cable funds, Sterling Communications acquired the 49% division in Sterling Manhattan held by Time-Life, in exchange for stock and precision assets worth $1.84 million. (Time-Life's carefulness in Sterling Communications concurrently increased immigrant 25% to 44.5%.)^[9][10]

Desperate to keep nobleness company afloat, Dolan began conceiving text to help make Sterling Manhattan money-making. In the summer of 1971, exhaustively on a family vacation en road to France aboard the Queen Elizabeth 2, he began developing a position for a cable-originated television channel. Justness concept, codenamed "The Green Channel", was for a subscription service that would offer unedited theatrical movies licensed non-native the major Hollywood film studios existing live sporting events, all presented externally interruptions by advertising and sold make public a flat monthly fee to destined subscribers. Dolan wanted to offset grandeur service's start-up costs by having True enter into carriage agreements with niche cable television providers to transmit professor sell the service to their sale, and draw revenue from fees hot to subscribers who added the point onto their existing cable service (which then consisted exclusively of local plus imported broadcast stations).

In the absolutely 1970s, the cable television industry was not very profitable, and was mess constant scrutiny from FCC regulators promote the major broadcast television networks (CBS, NBC and ABC), who saw telex cable as a threat to their use, even though it was originally planned to provide improved reception of commercialised and non-commercial television stations in communities and rural areas that tended turn into experience spotty to poor signal levee farther away from their city-grade cut. Attempts to launch pay television post had been done on an indefinite basis in the United States dating to 1951 (among them, Phonevision deduct New York City, Chicago and Hartford; SubscriberVision in New York City; Telemeter in Palm Springs, California; and Telemovies in Bartlesville, Oklahoma) with little get into no success, muzzled by campaigns hardbound by movie theater chains and gaul broadcasters to assuage television viewers fall prey to the supposed threat of pay squeeze to the movie industry and free-to-air television access, limited user interest, professor FCC restrictions on the types scholarship programming that could be offered memo subscription services. As Dolan presented enthrone idea of to management at Time-Life, they were initially hesitant to reexamine the "Green Channel" proposal, but one of these days agreed to assist him in approbation the project.^[11]

After the Federal Communications Organizartion ruled that local governments could put together restrict the operation of subscription commentators services in cable franchise terms, need July 1971, Sterling Communications—now consisting simulated Sterling Manhattan; its Long Island-based miss system, Sterling Nassau Cable Television; selling firm Allegro Films; and direct-to-cable planning firm Television Presentations Inc.—informed the FCC that it planned to operate nifty cable-originated pay television service. Because Sterling's New York City Council franchise give specifically required FCC approval for stray purpose, Time/Sterling filed an FCC attractiveness to authorize pay television operations. Real indicated that a subscription television step would also help Sterling Manhattan reserve its fledgling local origination channel, which had incurred $1 million in cleft debt on top of annual refer to operating losses of $250,000.^[12] On Sep 10, 1971, the FCC gave precautionary authorization to Time-Life and Sterling Borough Cable to begin a pay news services operation.^[13][14] On November 2, 1971, Interval Inc.'s board of directors approved prestige "Green Channel" proposal, agreeing to churn out Dolan a $150,000 development grant subsidize the project.^[6][8][15]

To gauge potential consumer curiosity, Time-Life sent out a direct safe haven research brochure to residents in appal U.S. cities. An overwhelming majority surrounding those surveyed (approximately 99%) opposed distinction idea of paying for a investment television service, with only 1.2% pro the concept and expressing interest wellheeled being a paying subscriber. In cool second survey conducted by an detached consultant, 4% of respondents polled uttered they were "almost certain" to concur to such a service. A later test conducted by Time-Life to heave in Allentown, Pennsylvania had salesmen bring about the pay channel concept to denizens by offering them free service dilemma the first month and a refundable installation fee; half of all interviewed residents had expressed interest in buy 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 observe its potential audience reach and membership fee pricing estimates to establish a licensing payment structure similar to their alimony from films shown in theaters. Because the channel would air films externally edits for objectionable content, cable operators also wanted to know what motion pictures would be shown on the boasting to avoid potential advertiser objections duct FCC fines for indecency. Sterling direction ultimately agreed to pay a level licensing fee to the movie studios to acquire film rights. Sterling extremely allowed cable operators the ability playact market the service directly to their customers.^[8][16]

Time-Life and Sterling Communications soon titular for the "Sterling Cable Network" get stuck be the name of the newfound service. Discussions to change the service's name took place during a late meeting of Dolan and the assignment staff he hired for the consignment, who ultimately settled on calling improvement "HomeBox Office", which was meant command somebody to convey to potential customers that character service would be their "ticket" achieve movies and events that they could see without having to leave their own home. The moniker was willful as a placeholder name in make ready to meet deadlines to publish deft memorandum and research brochures about greatness new service; management intended to let in up with a permanent name makeover development continued; however, the "Home Trunk Office" name stuck.^[17][6]

Multiple obstacles had disregard be overcome to get the fit on the air. A New Dynasty City Council provision applying to picture company's franchise agreement prohibited the broadcast of theatrical feature films over compromise television franchises. To circumvent this, to a certain extent than launch Home Box Office leave behind Sterling Manhattan, Dolan chose to nark another city with two competing dire franchises to serve as its first distribution system. Originally, he settled deal with the Teleservice Cable (now Service Electric) system in Allentown. However, management weighty out that Allentown and surrounding areas fell within the Philadelphia 76ers's 75-mile (121 km) television blackout radius, which high-mindedness team enforced to protect revenues generated from ticket sales for their dwellingplace games (then held at the Spectrum). Since HBO was planning to conduct regular-season and playoff games from glory National Basketball Association (NBA), any 76ers games that the service aired would have been prohibited from being shown within Allentown. Time-Life subsequently agreed tip an offer by Teleservice president Lav Walson to launch HBO on magnanimity company's Wilkes-Barre system (located outside ticking off the 76ers' blackout radius), fed go over the top with an AT&T microwave link at authority Pan Am Building in New Royalty. (HBO, which elected to forego ignore telecast rights to 76ers basketball party, would sign on to Teleservice's Metropolis system as its second cable identify in February 1973.)^[6][8][18]

In August 1972, grandeur National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) attempted unsuccessfully to block Sterling's utilization to build three community antenna relief (CARS) facilities it planned to join in matrimony to transmit HBO, over concerns renounce pay cable service would compete contradictorily with movie theaters by using proceeds from cable systems to "siphon" capacity and, by association, audiences from theatres.^[19]

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

HBO's launch came with very mini fanfare in the press; other stun print advertisements promoting the launch sieve the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, the service's debut lacked coverage from local or else national media outlets. The city curator of Wilkes-Barre declined an offer make somebody's day attend the launch ceremony, while Prior Inc. vice president J. Richard Elevation became stranded in traffic on depiction George Washington Bridge en route be different Manhattan, and was not able curry favor arrive in Wilkes-Barre for the ritual. Further complicating preparations for the installation telecast, in Midtown Manhattan, strong winds—produced by a storm system that wearied areas of freezing rain over portions of the New York City home that evening—toppled the Pan Am Chattels reception dish being used to broadcast the Home Box Office signal in the vicinity of microwave towers linked to Teleservice's Wilkes-Barre headend. Time-Life representatives sent a practitioner to repair the antenna in crux for the service's launch, completing exculpating about 25 minutes before the initiative 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 incident telecast, a National Hockey League (NHL) game between the New York Rangers and the Vancouver Canucks from President Square Garden,^[28] was transmitted that half-light over channel 21—its original assigned short-term on the Teleservice system—to its first base of 365 subscribers in Wilkes-Barre. (A plaque commemorating the launch comfort is located at Public Square enclose downtown Wilkes-Barre, established in honor farm animals Service Electric's April 1984 addition scrupulous HBO sister channel Cinemax to academic lineup. Wilkes-Barre resident Marion Sabestinas, who was the first Teleservice customer revere sign up to pay the $6 fee to receive Home Box Office's programming at launch, was honored be a sign of a lifetime subscription to Cinemax variety part of the plaque ceremony.)^[29] Ethics first movie presentation shown on character service aired immediately after the athleticss event: the 1971 film Sometimes uncluttered Great Notion, starring Paul Newman soar Henry Fonda.^{[26][22][8][30]}

Initially airing nightly on fleece open-ended schedule dependent on the cog of the evening's programs (usually evacuate 7:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. ET), Home Snout bin Office's programming initially consisted solely incline theatrical films—including four or five fresh titles per month—and event programming. Hose evening's schedule was arranged to gain either a double feature (which, below FCC anti-siphoning rules then maintained exhaustively protect programming supply for broadcast posting until they were struck down indifferent to the U.S. Court of Appeals long the District of Columbia Circuit engage March 1977,^[31] tended to be endorse releases dating no more than bend in half years from their initial theatrical exhibition), or a combination of either spruce sports or special event and dexterous theatrical movie, often bridged by out short film or other interstitial content.^[32] Home Box Office licensed theatrical in good time pictures from various film studios (such as Warner Bros. Pictures, 20th c Fox, Universal Studios, Columbia Pictures charge Paramount Pictures) on a per-title basis; each film received as many variety five showings during their scheduled itinerary month, depending on the quantity read titles available each month. HBO habitually prohibited showings of X-rated, pornographic advocate foreign art films. (The network's prohibitions on X-rated films would eventually get into carried over to films assigned devise NC-17 rating, albeit with rare exceptions, after the MPAA created it pass for a replacement for the X dip in 1990.)

Home Box Office's farreaching and exclusive sports coverage differentiated agent from many other subscription television maintenance that launched in the succeeding decades, laying the groundwork—to an extent—for probity development of ESPN and other resolute and regional cable-originated sports networks (including MSG Network, Prime Sports Networks, SportsChannel, and the various descendantsof the lattertwo regionalnetwork groups), and was replicated away the 1970s and early 1980s spawn several local broadcast- and microwave-transmitted contribution services. Through a contractual amendment gestural on November 1, 1972, eight generation before the service launched,^[33][34] HBO inherent broadcast rights to Madison Square Garden-originated events that had been contracted understand Sterling Manhattan for one of neat local origination channels (which served similarly the progenitor of the MSG Network) since May 1969.^[35][36][37] Throughout its be foremost eight years, HBO's sports lineup aim New York YankeesMajor League Baseball games;^[38]NCAA Division I college basketball games originating from Madison Square Garden; World Territory League (WFL) games;^[39][40]American Basketball Association (ABA) games;^[41]North American Soccer League games; high-quality LPGA golf tournaments; Canadian Football Friend games; World Hockey Association regular spell 1 and playoff games; Eastern College Gymnastic Conference (ECAC) tournaments (including the Convenience Ice Hockey Tournament and the ECAC Holiday Festival basketball tournament); World TeamTennis; the World Wide Wrestling Federation stranger Madison Square Garden, the National Hack Show; the Westminster Kennel Club Mutt Show; and Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) tournament events.^[42][43] Out of its exercises broadcasts, boxing would be the uppermost enduring part of HBO's programming program, beginning with its January 22, 1973, telecast of "The Sunshine Showdown", splendid 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 diversions program, HBO World Championship Boxing.

As part of their subscription, subscribers normal Home Box Office: Your Monthly Recreation Guide (later retitled HBO On Air in September 1975, and then [The] HBO Guide in February 1977). Ethics digest sizeprogram guide—which would also bait distributed to guest rooms of HBO's hotel clients starting in 1978—provided brainwashing highlights and complete daily listings engage in the month; until the May 1980 issue, it also featured "HBO Soundtrack" (originally "Up Front"), an occasional back outlining HBO's upcoming programming and corresponding common programming questions.^[27][44] The HBO Guide ceased print publication in December 2008; a PDF-formatted online program guide, infringement from the print version's format, began publishing in January 2002, and was made available for download through illustriousness websites of HBO and Cinemax (for which the PDF guide was marketed jointly until it ceased publication aft the February 2020 issue), and integrity Home Box Office Inc. lodging site (until full-time site maintenance ceased uncover August 2014 to focus on unornamented new, separate microsite for HBO Amount Markets, a broader-encompassing bulk distribution network for hospitality properties).

By the realize of 1972, the service was orthodox by 1,395 subscribers, all from Teleservice customers in Wilkes-Barre;^[45] this number add-on to around 4,000 subscribers by Feb 1973, across Teleservice's Wilkes-Barre, Allentown instruct Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, systems. A third Time-commissioned pay television study by Lieberman Digging Inc. released that month, surveying 450 Telecable Wilkes-Barre subscribers (split evenly in the middle of 150 current, former or non-subscribers pleasant HBO), found 79% of all prosecute (including 76% of former subscribers stake 59% of non-subscribers) preferred at-home notice of movies; male respondents expressed brawny interest in viewing sports events move pay television, while a mostly feminine share of respondents had a burdensome interest in seeing pay television broadcasts of live Broadway musicals and plays.^[18] Time Inc. president James R. Shepley, who was a driving force bum the development of HBO at magnanimity corporate level,^[46] said: "Time Inc. has long been has long been intrigued with this method of communication. Beginning marketing results indicate a bright job for subscription television. It seems murky that people are willing to compromise fair prices to see television programs of their choice which are well-organized of commercials."^[47]

On February 28, 1973, Real Communications announced it would spin-out HBO and associated assets into a original subsidiary, Home Box Office, Inc. Repel Inc. received 9% of Sterling's HBO equity (expanding the former's controlling HBO shares to around 75% of close-fitting equity) and committed a $3-million run investment in the subsidiary. Sterling too raised Time's equity in the tamp down to 66.4% in exchange for class added HBO stake, through the acquire of additional stock and a safe and sound $6.4-million note obligation. Charles Dolan—who reportedly had major disagreements with Time-Life governance on policy issues, claims which representation company denied—subsequently resigned as chief be bothered officer of Sterling Communications and HBO, accepting a $675,000 buyout of elegant portion of his stock while lingering on the board of directors claim both companies in the interim; Dolan used portions of the sale's prize to repurchase Time's share of goodness Sterling Nassau systems and to commence the Long Island Cable Community Come to life Co. (the forerunner to Cablevision Systems Corporation, which would be combined laughableness the Sterling/Cablevision systems on Long Island) as the system's parent company. Gerald M. Levin—an entertainment industry attorney beforehand with New York City-based law put across Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, who abstruse been with Home Box Office because it began operations as its bumptious of finance, and later as neat vice president and director of programming—replaced Dolan as the company's president esoteric CEO.^{[48][49][50][51][52]} Expanding beyond movies and amusements, 1973 saw HBO innovate the thought of original programming for cable journos, developing entertainment programming produced by courier, at least initially, intended for unshared broadcast on the channel. On Hoof it 23, 1973, HBO broadcast its primary non-sports entertainment special, the Pennsylvania Polka Festival, a three-hour-long music event bring out into the open from the Allentown Fairgrounds in Allentown.^[53][54][55]

On May 9, 1973, Time began tend sell its controlling share of Authentic to Warner Communications (predecessor entity swap over Warner Bros. Discovery) for $20 million; high start-up and operating costs acquire HBO and other Sterling cable big bucks were reported to be the genesis of the sale. Time intended obstacle convert the 260,000 convertible notes wrong held in Warner's cable television cluster, Warner Cable Communications, into common deposit shares totaling up to 20% find guilty interest. Sterling would then maintain laxity 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 conclusive sale agreement for HBO and class other Sterling subsidiaries; financial arrangements idea between Sterling and the New Dynasty City Council as part of their 20-year noncompete franchise agreement were designated to have curtailed the sale.^[3][59][60]

On July 19, 1973, Time Inc. reached arrive agreement to purchase and assume fiscal liabilities of Sterling Communications for $6.2 million (including $3.1‐million in redeemed disclose debentures). Time completed its acquisition sponsor Sterling on September 18, 1973, officially dissolving the Sterling holding company put up with transferring Home Box Office and Pure Manhattan Cable to its Time-Life Outward show division. (The "Sterling" name was next removed from the Manhattan system, which was renamed "Manhattan Cable Television".)^{[61][62][63][57][58]} Orang-utan the acquisition was being completed, HBO was struggling to grow: by Oct, the service had around 8,000 subscribers across 13 cable systems in Penn and southern New York State wind cumulatively served 110,095 subscribers,^[20][64] and introduce was suffering from a significant reorganize rate as subscribers who found high-mindedness channel's program scheduling repetitive, because atlas the limited allotment of movies facing of special events, decided to invalidate their service.^[20]

In January 1974, HBO broad its programming to an average find eight hours per day (from 5:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. ET/PT) on weekdays mount twelve hours (from 1:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. ET) on weekends, depending on give it some thought day's programming lineup. Along with flicks and sports, programming at this central theme had expanded to include concert specials and other music programs, daytime for kids programs and various instructional series.^[65] Pick its programming expansion to late afternoons, the service began maintaining a longstanding watershed policy prohibiting R-rated feature big screen from airing before 8:00 p.m. ET/PT.^[66][67][68] Interpretation policy may be traced to HBO's availability at the time on similarity cable tiers, and was maintained unconventional after competing premium services began sacrifice daytime showings of R-rated films whereas early as 1980 because of backer objections to the practice.^[69] The action also would be applied to recent series, movies and documentaries containing fully fledged material consistent with the present-day TV-MA rating (later applying to original folk tale acquired programs that were actually decided that rating after the TV Maternal Guidelines system was implemented across prestige television industry on January 1, 1997). (As of 2020^[update], enforcement of ethics watershed policy on the main HBO feed has been greatly diminished: burn currently permits afternoon airings of R-rated films and TV-MA-rated programs on pure modest basis; however, it does beg for allow such programming to be timetabled earlier than 2:00 p.m. ET/PT, with birth timeslots of initial airings of R-rated films varying each day. The monument policy was never extended to overbearing of HBO's multiplex channels, although HBO Family, since its December 1996 equip, has prohibited R-/TV-MA-rated programs from ventilation on its schedule.)

Over the pair years following its launch, Home Busybody Office steadily expanded its regional reach: it became available in New Dynasty State for the first time outline 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 Reestablish and Pennsylvania;^[72] The service's addition hurt UA-Columbia's Wayne system expanded its district coverage expanded into New Jersey complicated June 1974.^[73] In order to shoot its financial losses, on November 13, 1973, Manhattan Cable—which had announced hang over intent to offer HBO as double-cross extra-fee subscription offering in July cut into that year, as a move on touching stem net losses exceeding $10 million—filed a request to the City sustaining New York to allow operation unconscious a pay channel.^[74]

On June 21, 1974, the New York City Board near Estimate passed a resolution that unbolt access for programmers to lease shortterm space for subscription television services answer Manhattan Cable and TelePrompTer Cable, prep added to cleared Manhattan Cable to offer HBO on a two-year experimental leased principle, in exchange for a 5% tariff paid to the city from interpretation system's subscription revenue share. Although loftiness resolution permitted it to offer HBO to its subscribers in Midtown current Lower Manhattan immediately, in order set a limit 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 repulsive its first quarterly profits in integrity first half of 1976, generated pile part from, among other factors, proceeds from HBO subscriptions.)^[79] Terrestrial transmission admire HBO via multipoint distribution service (MDS) began by the Fall of 1974, available to residents in Philadelphia take Wilmington, Delaware (via Micro-TV Inc.) snowball to select apartment buildings in Borough. (MDS transmission would supplement HBO's reporting into the late 1980s, to both distribute its programming in areas corresponding limited to no cable penetration allow as an alternative means to come by the network in areas with strand service.)^[80][81]

As Home Box Office's distribution comprehensive throughout the northern Mid-Atlantic and austral New England, Time/Sterling established a direction of microwave receivers and connecting cables on utility landlines to feed HBO's programming from the New York shift antenna to the service's participating telex systems. Although its base had full-blown from what it had when HBO was being conceived, Sterling Manhattan Unpleasant continued to lose money because description company had only a small freelance base of 20,000 customers within Manhattan; HBO also faced financial issues, forfeiture nearly $9,000 per month in participation due to fees it paid detain AT&T (averaging $11,000) to maintain wear smart clothes New York-based microwave link that was not made up for through nobility monthly fees it collected from subscribers. Initially, HBO received only a $3.50 cut from the $6.50 monthly cost paid by subscribers (equivalent to $47.35 in 2023 adjusted for inflation^[82]), the hint of which went to cable systems that offered the service.^[32][21] In Nov 1974, as it was observing close-fitting second anniversary, HBO—then available to strand television and MDS systems in University, New York State, New Jersey wallet Delaware—had passed the 40,000-subscriber mark.^[83] Overstep April 1975, the service had almost 100,000 subscribers within its four-state supply area.^[20]

HBO's sports coverage expanded in July 1975, as it inaugurated regional amount of the Wimbledon tennis tournament. (That year saw Arthur Ashe defeat make the rounds champion Jimmy Connors, 6–1, 6–1, 5–7, 6–4, in the Gentlemen's Singles rearmost, becoming the first Black male inspire win a Wimbledon singles title.^[84]) Firstly, the HBO telecasts of the altercation mainly consisted of replays culled hit upon other video sources (including the BBC); HBO Sports began to employ representative in-house team of commentators starting able the 1978 tournament.^[85] Throughout its possession on the channel, Wimbledon coverage include HBO—which was the first television spider`s web interlacin to offer weekday tennis coverage chance network television—consisted of singles and doubles events from the early rounds flawless the tournament. (NBC—which had the over-the-air broadcast rights to Wimbledon since 1969—maintained rights to the quarterfinal, semifinal bid final rounds as well as weekend early-round matches.)

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

In the Plummet of 1974, executives from Time Opposition. and the Home Box Office element began conceptualizing ideas to expand HBO into a national pay television advantage. Developing a vast infrastructure of microcook and coaxial telephone relay towers incline all 50 states and U.S. territories would have been cost-prohibitive for Time/HBO due to the time and disbursement involved. HBO's existing microwave network was also expensive and difficult to maintain—especially in winter, when snow and occurrence storms periodically disrupted service—along with questionnaire geographically limiting, as the signal could only be fed to an associated cable system if it was legislative body the microwave signal's path.

Seeing smash down as the only efficient and profitable option to expand distribution of Residence Box Office to the entire attraction, Time settled on using a geostationary communications satellite to transmit HBO straightaway to cable providers throughout the Common States within and outside of well-fitting existing microwave relay network. Other urgency broadcasters at the time were unsettled about uplinking their feeds to moon because they feared that the satellites may inadvertently shut down or disburden out of their orbit, as convulsion as holding reservations about the reward of purchasing downlink receiver dishes, which in 1974, were sold for style much as $75,000 (equivalent to $463,360.32 in 2023 adjusted for inflation^[82]).^[20] Sid Topol, president of cable television equipment industrialist Scientific Atlanta, met with RCA Americom Communications (which was granted FCC grandeur to operate and launch a transport satellite), Home Box Office and precise group of multiple system cable operators (MSOs) to propose having the RCA satellite transmit the HBO signal; Well-ordered Atlanta (through a client arrangement discharge Transcommunications Corp.) would agree to construct earth-based satellite relay stations to carve set up outside of HBO's Borough headquarters and to the service's consumer cable systems. RCA and HBO common to Topol's proposal, and the Time-Life board subsequently approved the satellite handing over plan.^[52][86]

On April 11, 1975, Levin folk tale Time-Life unveiled plans to distribute nobleness HBO signal via satellite to rope 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 significance then-under construction Satcom I—which was come off to be launched at the stretch of 1975—for a five-year term. HBO also signed an agreement to drive a wedge between the satellite feed on eight UA-Columbia Cablevision systems in California, Texas, Florida, Arizona, Arkansas and Washington State, existing have earth station receivers built gain their headends to intercept and transmit the signal.^[87][88][89] Now that a work up 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 unjustifiable system-determined fees of between $6 ground $9 per month.^[95] HBO also entered into preliminary discussions with Kansas City-based regional cable service Target Network Persuade, from which a deal did distant materialize, to share a transponder, either by dividing their respective airtime have round allow HBO broad coverage in nobility Midwestern United States or dividing shipment by geographic region.^[96] Through the Wellregulated Atlanta contract, UA-Columbia and other tape machine providers also commissioned earth station dishes through Scientific Atlanta to receive decency 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 unceasingly deliver its signal via satellite what because it transmitted the "Thrilla in Manila", televised from the Araneta Coliseum block out Cubao, Philippines. Subscribers of UA-Columbia's Exert yourself Pierce and Vero Beach, Florida systems and American Television and Communications's President, Mississippi system joined HBO's existing dire and MDS affiliates in the Mid-Atlantic U.S.—some of which were beginning secure transition from microwave to satellite distribution of the network—in receiving the big shot championshipboxing match that saw Muhammad Kaliph defeat Joe Frazier by technical knockout.^{[98][99][100]} HBO temporarily fed its domestic Asian and Pacific feeds to Westar 1 for the first four months adequate satellite transmissions; the network's transmissions shifted to Satcom 1 when full-time money-making service began on February 28, 1976.^{[20][23][101][102][103]} The network's programming expanded with magnanimity switch to satellite transmission, operating commonplace from 1:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. ET/PT reach an extension of its weekend catalogue to weekdays. (A lack of G- and PG-rated films in its listing and low afternoon viewership were hollow for a 20-hour rollback of HBO's weekly schedule on October 11, 1976—reverting to the 5:30 p.m. ET/PT weekday kick off time it had prior to magnanimity start of its satellite feeds perch, with adjustments for sports events, tumbling its weekend schedule to begin parallel 3:00 p.m. ET/PT.)^[104]

Through the use of attendant, the network began transmitting separate brainwashing feeds for the Eastern and Peaceful Time Zones, allowing the same programs that are first broadcast in nobility eastern half of the United States to air at accordant times monitor the western part of the country.^[105] One month after the satellite set off, preliminary estimates—taken toward the end a mixture of an extended free preview of HBO on all three systems—showed that turn over 8,250 of approximately 25,630 subscribers betwixt the three charter systems had gestural up for the service, and exclusive three months of the satellite uplink, 58,000 customers (or approximately 32% assault their combined penetration) among six spick and span the eleven cable systems that with HBO—in Jackson, Mississippi; Fort Pierce enthralled Vero Beach, Florida; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Thought Smith, Arkansas; and Laredo, Texas—had shipshape up for the service, joining 230,000 subscribers in the Northeastern U.S.^[106][107] HBO estimated that eleven cable systems orthodox its signal via satellite by decency end of 1975.^[108] HBO achieved coast-to-coast distribution in December 1975, when Prompter added the network to its Seattle–Tacoma, Washington, systems, extending its reach familiar with the West Coast.^[103]

The growth of HBO would spur the development of description pay television industry during the totality 1970s and into the 1980s. Though Warner Communications was the first explicate launch an HBO competitor with ethics April 1, 1973, launch of videotape-transmitted pay movie service Star Channel (renamed The Movie Channel in November 1979), the expansion of HBO via minion prompted other companies to launch challenger pay television services; cable-originated pay secondment that sprouted over the next decennary included Showtime, a similar general diversion service initially focusing on movies pole non-sports event programming that was launched by Viacom on July 1, 1976;^[109]Home Theater Network, a family-oriented movie boasting launched by Group W Satellite Relationship on September 1, 1978; Bravo, calligraphic film and arts service (now fastidious commercial entertainment service primarily focusing formerly reality series) launched by Rainbow Routes and Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment on Dec 8, 1980, as a two-night-per-week timeshare service shared with now-defunct R-rated skin service Escapade;^[110] and Spotlight, a peel channel co-founded in consortium by Cycle Mirror Satellite Programming Company, Storer Affinity, 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 sending methods until October 1997), ONTV (launched in Los Angeles on April 1, 1977, and later operating as neat as a pin national over-the-air pay franchise until June 1985), SelecTV (launched in Los Angeles on July 23, 1978; later shrink as a national over-the-air pay authorization until 1985, then solely available by C-band satellite until January 1991) take up Wometco Home Theater (a New Dynasty City-based broadcast service operating from Hike 1, 1977 to March 1, 1986)—were launched in several major and method U.S. cities to mainly act pass for cable alternatives in unwired areas.

The network's move to transmit its communication via satellite uplink also culminated pustule the conception of modern basic telex service, as distributors began developing distraction channels marketed to cable system operators to be packaged with local president adjacent-market imported broadcast stations. By 1977, two fledgling cable networks had wedded conjugal HBO in pioneering satellite delivery lay out the cable television industry, becoming magnanimity first of many to adopt retainer transmission over the coming years: Atlanta-based independent stationWTCG-TV (soon to become WTBS; now sister network TBS and start wholly cable-originated), which, through then-owner Bright and breezy Turner, became the first independent opinion to become a national superstation circus December 17, 1976;^[112] following suit was the upstart CBN Satellite Service (later to become the present-day Freeform), going on by Pat Robertson as the cap satellite-delivered religious network on April 1, 1977.^[23][113]

On December 31, 1975, HBO premiered its first comedy special, An Dimness with Robert Klein, the first star as nine HBO stand-up specials that leadership comic headlined over 35 years. Good viewer response to the special poor to the creation of On Location, a monthly anthology series that tingle a stand-up comedian's nightclub performance farm animals its entirety and uncut; it premiered on March 20, 1976, with span performance by David Steinberg.^[114][115] The cloth would gradually cultivate a reputation advance the comedy world for its perpendicular specials, which have helped raise glory profile of established comedians (including Martyr Carlin, Alan King, Rodney Dangerfield, Cabaret Crystal and Robin Williams) and served as the launchpad for emerging ludicrous stars (such as Dennis Miller, Whoopi Goldberg, Chris Rock, Roseanne Barr, Patton Oswalt, Margaret Cho and Dave Chappelle), many of whom have gone plead to television and film careers.

By April 1976, Home Box Office reached 386,000 subscribers (306,000 through its global microwave-landline network, 75,000 through satellite attribution, and 5,000 through MDS-served apartment complexes.)^[116] It passed 500,000 subscribers by Venerable 1976, including 180,000 brought into HBO's base through the July 27 whiz of its purchase of pay-television indoctrination services company Telemation Program Services, which Time/HBO acquired to provide content intermediation with program distributors and, with basic intent, to use Telemation to walk "customized" programing schedules for HBO's poor affiliates. (Through a contest searching divulge its 500,000th subscriber, HBO rewarded wedded elementary school teachers Lester and Carole Diehl, who subscribed through United Strand Television's San Leandro, California system, butt an expense-paid vacation to Hawaii captivated a $200 cash prize presented as a consequence a San Francisco press conference featuring comedian John Byner that was shown during the October premiere of 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 lay out the creation of Standing Room Only, a monthly series featuring concerts final various stage "spectaculars" (including among residuum, burlesque shows, Vaudeville routines, ventriloquism with magic performances) taped live in veneer of an audience, which premiered assets April 17, 1977 with Ann Corio's 'This Was Burlesque' as inaugural broadcast.^[120] By the end of 1977, honourableness network had around one million subscribers across 435 cable and MDS systems serving 45 states.^[121][122] Time's third-quarter 1 report that year disclosed that HBO had turned its first profit conduct yourself nearly five years of operation.^[45]

The cloth achieved full nationwide distribution in Dec 1978, having garnered 750 cable associate in all 50 U.S. states ordain around two million subscribers.^{[20][122][123]} Programming by degrees expanded over time; by January 1979, HBO's programming day lasted between figure and eleven hours per day (usually from 5:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. ET/PT) conviction weekdays and around 12½ hours (usually from 2:30 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. ET/PT) confusion weekends.^[124] By April 1980, when picture current version of its 1975 emblem 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 subordinate to the "HBO" initialism. (The full fame is still used as the academic corporate name of its parent secondary under Warner Bros. Discovery, and remains used on-air in copyright legalese through the end credits of its recent programs and network IDs shown scruple per day—in the morning and unpunctual afternoon—at the close of promotional breaks; presenting credits shown at the set off of its original specials; and calligraphic 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 distinction network's original programs.^[125]) Subscribership mostly twofold 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 encoding schedule at the start of 1982.^[69] Then-HBO President James Heyworth said position decision was effectively forced by contestant Showtime's announcement of its pending twitch to a 24-hour daily schedule flourishing July 4 (both announcements were appreciative at that year's National Cable Journalists Association [NCTA] Convention),^[127] as well importation the prior switches of The Blear Channel (on December 1, 1979)^[128] be first Cinemax (on January 1, 1981) secure 24-hour programming.^[129] (Along with the two larger pay services, Spotlight offered 24-hour programming from September 1, 1981 hanging fire 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 swollen by approximately three hours—until it accomplished operations on January 31, 1987.^[131]) Character first phase of the switchover commenced on September 4, 1981, when HBO adopted a "24-hour" weekend schedule (typically running about 58 consecutive hours, dismiss 5:00 p.m. ET/PT Friday until 3:00 a.m. ET/PT Sunday/early Monday). To facilitate the surfeit weekend programming, HBO and Modern Sales pitch Pictures, then-owner of the Modern Moon Network (MSN; now defunct), agreed draw near trade their respective leased timeslots implication Satcom I transponder 22 (then designated to HBO's Pacific Time feed). MSN—which had earlier subleased the bulk in this area its afternoon hours to Hearst/ABC Tv Services for its planned women's hard 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 mint weekday 10:00 a.m. to noon ET/PT transponder time.^[132] Three months later on Dec 28, 1981, it began offering wonderful full 168-hour weekly schedule (except send off for occasional interruptions for scheduled early-morning technological 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 bigness of unscripted programming since the introduction of its first weekly series, Inside the NFL, in September 1977, 1983 saw HBO venture into original written programming. On January 3, 1983, greatness network premiered Not Necessarily the News, a news satire lampooning the hebdomad in politics that originally aired monkey a comedy special in September 1982. The series was cited as taking accedence laid the groundwork for satirical advice programs that came in later stage (such as The Daily Show, The Colbert Report and a later HBO series, Last Week Tonight with Ablutions Oliver), and featured Conan O’Brien with Greg Daniels, among other notable comics and comedy writers, among its scribble staff over its eight-season run. Attach a label to January 10, 1983, HBO premiered neat first regularly scheduled children's program, Fraggle Rock. Created by Jim Henson (who produced the 1978 ACE Award-winning failed Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas for HBO) and co-produced with Television South, probity Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and Henson Body, the series (which ran for quint seasons, ending in March 1987) centralized on a group of various coordinated Muppet species.^[133]

Later that year, on Hawthorn 22, 1983, HBO premiered The Terrycloth Fox Story, the first television coat ever produced for the network subject the first to be produced hold a pay television channel. The film profiled the Canadian amputee jogger (Eric Fryer) who embarked on top-hole cross-country run across Canada to submit money and awareness for cancer enquiry before Fox's deteriorating health from progressive cancer (from which he succumbed) ready the trek after 143 days.^{[55][134][135]} Further its venture into original programming prowl year, in early 1983, HBO jumped ahead of its competitors to get the first pay television service plan broadcast Star Wars. As was prosaic with film rights at the lifetime in the pay-TV industry, 20th Hundred Fox sold off the premium radio b newspaper people rights to the science fiction standard on a non-exclusive basis: HBO, Beginning, The Movie Channel, Home Theater Spider`s web interlacin and Spotlight were contractually bound harangue premiere it no earlier than 6:00 a.m. Eastern Time on February 1. Quieten, HBO had managed to air integrity movie at midnight ET that one and the same day, from a planned debut immaculate 7:30 p.m. ET on February 1, puzzle out paying Fox for permission to come forth the film six hours ahead chide the competition without promoting their accomplishment to attract an audience other mystify night owls.^[136][137]

In August 1984, Home Casket Office Inc. announced plans to crawl the HBO and Cinemax satellite augments using the Videocipher II encryption custom, 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 hard various businesses (including hotels, motels obscure bars) that used rooftop satellite antennas to freely receive HBO, rather go one better than paying for the network through tutor affiliated cable systems.^[138] Periodic testing stencil Videocipher II signal scrambling began dealings be carried out during promotional breaks between programs on HBO's Pacific At this point Zone feed on April 15, 1985, and on its Eastern Time Sphere feed on April 29. (Testing firstly commenced on the Pacific feed go Cinemax on March 15, and lengthened to that service's Eastern feed big-headed April 22.)^{[139][140][141]} By August 1985, cryptography extended to the entirety of greatness daytime schedule (from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. ET/PT) on HBO and Cinemax's personal Eastern and Pacific feeds.^[142]

HBO and Cinemax began scrambling their signals full-time authority January 15, 1986, requiring customers border on pay an extra fee to render one or both networks as their subscribers through cable systems had eke out a living done. Widespread complaints were fielded visit Home Box Office Inc. and disciple dish retailers from television receive-only (TVRO) dish users who previously could tax value HBO and Cinemax's programming for infuriated no extra cost on their proportionate 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 inculcate for a monthly subscription [or $19.95 for a bundling of both HBO and Cinemax], equal to or degree higher than the networks' cable commitment rates, and rental fees for righteousness Videocipher receivers).^{[143][144][145]} The Satellite Television Sweat Association (SPACE) and independent satellite dealers worried about the negative impact sovereign state the satellite business from the bereavement of unencrypted access to HBO refuse Cinemax and the expansion of full-time signal scrambling to other basic pointer premium cable networks, as dish profit-making sharply plummeted and several satellite retailers across the U.S. closed as splendid result; this spurred SPACE, in Parade 1986, to lobby for Congressional bill 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 following on April 27, when John Heed. MacDougall, an Ocala, Florida satellite wield retailer calling himself "Captain Midnight", drama his own protest of the undulations by redirecting a receiver dish type HBO's Galaxy 1 transponder and arresting the network's signal during a late-night presentation of the 1985 spy representation film The Falcon and the Snowman. In this act of broadcast catch in the act intrusion, the film's telecast was overridden with a text-based message written offspring MacDougall, placed over SMPTE color exerciser and composed using a Quanta Microgen MG-100 character generator, in protest appreciate the channel's decision to scramble treason signal for home satellite subscribers elitist warning other premium services of imaginable backlash if they followed suit ("$12.95/MONTH ? NO WAY ! [SHOWTIME/MOVIE CHANNEL BEWARE!]").^{[148][149][150]} Depiction Federal Communications Commission subsequently charged MacDougall for "illegally operating a satellite uplink transmitter" in violation of the Conjunction Act of 1934, for which recognized pleaded guilty after deciding to work together with the FCC's investigation into say publicly incident; under a plea bargain contract, MacDougall was fined $5,000, was support on unsupervised probation for one twelvemonth, and had his amateur radio empower suspended for one year.^{[151][152][153][154][155]}

By May 1987, HBO's programming was received by around 15 million subscribers across about 6,700 cable systems nationwide.^[156] As the Decade wound down, HBO saw its freelance base expand greatly as a consequence of the 1988 Writers Guild resolve America strike; throughout the strike (which lasted from March 7 to Esteemed 7 of that year), HBO challenging an inventory of first-run programming run-down the broadcast networks were only for certain to air reruns of their shows because of the abrupt halt anticipate their production schedules and the deferred start of the fall television patch. Leaning into its growing prominence sham pay television, in 1989, HBO divulge the promotional campaign "Simply the Best"—which used the Tina Turner single "The Best" as its imaging theme integrate some on-air advertisements—basing its programming refurbish 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 victual transmitted through, depending on the wire system affiliate, either an auxiliary specially audio program channel (accessible through inherent and external multichannel audio decoders) ripple audio simulcasts via FM radio, launched. The service—which initially launched on 20 cable systems in markets with sizable Hispanic and Latino populations, and highly thought of specifically at Spanish-dominant and first-language Romance speakers—^{[158][159][160]} originally provided Spanish-dubbed versions medium recent feature film releases from HBO and Cinemax's movie suppliers. By give it some thought Spring, Selecciones's offerings expanded to comprise Spanish audio simulcasts of HBO's secure boxing matches (except for certain legend broadcast exclusively in Spanish on networks such as Galavisión). Selecciones en Español de HBO y Cinemax—replaced by bend over dedicated channel feeds, HBO en Español and Cinemax en Español, on Sep 27, 1993, effectively acting as idiosyncratic simulcast feeds with added first-run Spanish-language movies (mostly from Mexico, Argentina topmost Spain), and Spanish dubs of HBO's non-sports-event original programming—quickly gained interest let alone providers, expanding to an additional 35 cable systems in various U.S. delis in the weeks following its debut.^{[160][161][162][163]}

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

On March 4, 1989, Delectable Communications—which, through joint venture group Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, sold its interest unsubtle The Movie Channel parent Showtime/The Screen Channel, Inc. (now Showtime Networks) decide Showtime founder and majority partner Viacom in 1986—announced its intent to amalgamate with HBO parent Time Inc. straighten out $14.9 billion in cash and formality. Following two failed attempts by Main Communications to legally block the amalgamation, as Paramount was seeking to get Time in a hostile takeover edict, the merger was completed on Jan 10, 1990, resulting in the flattened entity creating Time Warner, which was the parent company of the way until the merger of the group of pupils (as WarnerMedia) with Discovery, Inc. used to form Warner Bros. Discovery in 2022. (Manhattan Cable Television would be natural into Time Warner Cable—formed through elegant consolidation of the cable system cash of American Television and Communications [ATC], which Time acquired for $140 pile in January 1978 and subsequently orderly with Manhattan Cable, and Warner Send Communications—and would adopt its parent unit's identity in January 1993. Time Appetizing Cable would be spun-off from academic namesake parent as an independent ballet company in 2009, and later merged bounce Spectrum in May 2016.)^{[164][165][166][167][168]} By distinction start of 1990, HBO served 17.3 million subscribers out of a accumulative 23.7 million subscribers covered between insides and sister network Cinemax.^[169]

On August 1, 1991, HBO and Cinemax became significance first subscription television services to start off "multiplexed" companion channels—a term coined stop then-CEO Michael Fuchs to equate leadership channel tier to a multi-screen veil theater—offering, at no extra charge carry out HBO subscribers, distinct schedules with programs culled from HBO's programming libraries come from offerings shown concurrently on their respective parent primary channels. TeleCable disposal in Overland Park, Kansas, Racine, River and suburban Dallas (Richardson and Metropolis, Texas) that subscribed to either bragging began receiving two additional HBO grid, HBO2 and HBO3, as part souk a test launch. (A secondary Cinemax channel, Cinemax 2 [now MoreMax], was also test launched on the twosome systems.)^{[170][171][172][173][174]} The HBO multiplex would long run 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 captivated Cinemax—accompanied by Showtime and The Membrane Channel—became the first television services advocate the world to transmit their signals using digital compression technology. The condense satellite feeds, fed through Galaxy 1, were fixed at compression ratios juncture to maintain "state-of-the-art" signal quality bonus provider headends. (The DigiCipher system, handsome in 1992 by General Instrument pause replace the Videocipher II system prowl was standard among satellite-delivered cable grid, 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 ethics Videocipher II.)^{[179][180][181][182]} The adoption of significance DigiCipher allowed Home Box Office, Opposition. to transmit three HBO feeds instruction the primary Cinemax channel through influence compression standard to participating systems roam adopted the technology,^[183] and served pass for the benchmark for the launch be defeated additional multiplex channels of both HBO and Cinemax utilizing compression—commencing with rendering December 1996 launch of HBO Kinship and concluding with the 2001 launches of four Cinemax channels: WMax (now MovieMax), @Max (now Cinemáx), OuterMax add-on 5StarMax.

On March 1, 1994, HBO, Cinemax and rivals Showtime and Justness Movie Channel implemented a cooperative suffice advisory system to provide to parents specific information about pay-cable programming volume that may be unsuitable for their children; the development of the system—inspired by the advisory ratings featured make a claim the HBO Guide and other document guides distributed by the major insufficient cable services, and labeled at each one co-owned service's discretion—was in response appeal concerns from parents and advocacy bands about violent content on television, conj albeit HBO and other services to situate individual ratings corresponding to the intolerable content depicted in specific programs (and categorized based on violence, profanity, hunger or miscellaneous mature material).^[184] A revised system—centered around ten content codes virtuous two to three letters in length—was implemented across HBO and the further participating pay services on June 10, 1994.^[185]

During the 1990s, HBO began healthy a reputation for high-quality and impious original programming; it was throughout that decade that the network experienced escalating success among audiences and acclaim wean away from television critics for original series much as Tales from the Crypt (a horroranthology series based on the Fifties EC Comics series of the very name), Dream On (from eventual Friends creators Marta Kauffman and David Writer, and which utilized clips from outline television series to illustrate the make a fresh start of divorced New York City notebook editor Martin Tupper [Brian Benben]), Tracey Takes On... (a topical sketch clowning show, in which comedienne Tracey Ullman, tackles a specific subject through sketches and monologues), Mr. Show with Flutter and David (a sketch comedy mound hosted by Bob Odenkirk and Painter Cross, featuring on-stage sketches and pre-taped pieces) and Arliss (a Robert Wuhl-led comedy about the exploits of elegant sports agent). HBO's original programming disseminate this period up until the 2020s was consciously about and aimed have an effect on men, rather than women; as HBO executive Michael Fuchs said in grand 2010 interview: "I've figured out recur research, and in my own wits, that the man of the bedsit decided whether to have HBO ache for not. (...) If commercial television locked away a female slant, HBO had graceful male slant."^[186]

One of the scripted drollery programs that premiered early in illustriousness decade, Garry Shandling vehicle The Larry Sanders Show, arguably became HBO's flagship series of the 1990s; although on the level was not commercially as successful in that programs airing on the Big Tierce networks (ABC, NBC and CBS) enthralled Fox, the show—which followed the manufacture of a fictional late night speech show—enjoyed a cult status and depreciative acclaim, and received multiple nominations other wins for many major television bays (including four CableACE Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Brownie points and two Peabody Awards).^[187] Along catch 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 Hour Strip), the use of celebrity caller stars portraying themselves, the absence a range of 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). Goodness series ranked #38 on TV Guide's list of the "50 Greatest Box Shows of All Time" in 2002 (becoming the only HBO comedy pile to make the list)^[188] and was also included in Time's list announcement the "100 Best TV Shows flaxen All Time" in 2007.^[189]The Larry Sanders Show was also ranked by many critics and fans as one be advisable for the best TV comedies of prestige 1990s.^[190]

The original programs that HBO has developed since the early 1990s plot earned the channel numerous Emmy presentday Golden Globe Award nominations and wins.^{[191][failed verification]} HBO has been nominated all the rage at least one category at integrity Emmys and Golden Globes since 1988 (when the network earned its foremost Emmy nomination for Danny Glover's fair as Nelson Mandela in the 1987 original movie Mandela), and set topping record for the most Primetime Honor nominations for a television network remit a single year (137) in 2019.^[192] Two reasons for what is alleged as the higher quality of these shows are the quality of rectitude writing on the programs and primacy fact that as a subscription-only rent out, HBO does not carry "normal" commercials; instead the network runs promotions vindicate upcoming HBO programs and behind-the-scenes featurettes between programs. This relieves HBO use up some pressures to tone down dubitable aspects of its programs, and allows for more explicit content to do an impression of incorporated into its shows that would not be allowed to air pool broadcast television or basic cable, specified as profanity, strong/graphic violence, nudity last graphic sex scenes.

In July 1997, HBO premiered its first one-hour colourful narrative series Oz, centering on description inmates of the Oswald State Punitive Facility, a fictional level 4maximum-securitystate lock-up. The program helped start the taste of narrative dramas incorporating gritty pragmatism and storytelling that became standard halfway premium cable services to the appear day. While Oz was critically identifiable throughout its six-season run, it was not until The Sopranos premiered solution January 1999, that the network consummated widespread critical success with an hour-long drama series. The Sopranos—centering on press patriarch Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) most important his family—received 111 Emmy nominations extract 21 wins over the course enjoy its six-season run, including two honors for Outstanding Drama Series. The commonalty drama's first wins for Outstanding Stage play and Outstanding Supporting Actress in deft Drama Series (for Drea de Matteo) in 2004, two of the several Emmys it won that year, stained the first time that a dire program won in either category lose your footing a program on one of justness major broadcast networks.

1998 saw loftiness debut of From the Earth in close proximity the Moon, a 12-part miniseries make certain was produced by Tom Hanks, Bokkos Howard and Brian Grazer and family unit 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 longed-for between the United States and honesty Soviet Union through the final Dependant landing, Apollo 17. From the Without ornamentation to the Moon—which won three Laurels Awards, including for Outstanding Miniseries, mushroom a Golden Globe for Best Miniseries or Television Film—helped lay the underpinnings for other high-profile historical films extort miniseries produced by the network have subsequent years including 61* (a Billystick Crystal-directed 2001 biopic chronicling New Royalty Yankees legends Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle's New York Yankees race criticize break Babe Ruth's 1927 single-season snap of 60 home runs), Band time off Brothers (a ten-part 2001 miniseries on by Hanks and Steven Spielberg, draw out the E Company soldiers of leadership 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment during say publicly European Theater combat of World Enmity II), John Adams and The Pacific (a ten-part 2010 companion miniseries justify Band of Brothers from Spielberg added Hanks, based on the 1992 Writer E. Ambrosebook focusing on the Pooled States Marine Corps's Pacific Theater battles during World War II).

In June 1998, Sex and the City, supported on the book series of say publicly same name by Candace Bushnell, forceful its debut on the network. Assign the course of its six-season brisk pace, the comedy series—centering on the familiarity and romances of four New Royalty City women^[193]—received 54 Emmy nominations post won seven, including one win hope against hope Outstanding Comedy Series, and in 2004, the first wins for Outstanding Idol Actress in a Comedy Series (for Sarah Jessica Parker) and Outstanding Supportive Actress in a Comedy Series (for Cynthia Nixon) for HBO since rectitude network first gained Emmy eligibility. Affirmation June 25, 1999, HBO Sports proclaimed it would discontinue coverage of Suburbia after a 25-year run following defer year's tournament, citing a need give somebody the job of "refresh" HBO's programming slate; this left-hand HBO's boxing franchises (which expanded conduct yourself February 1996 to include a subsidiary program for rising boxing talent, HBO Boxing After Dark, and soon dilated to include a short-lived, hip-hop-infused sparring program, KO Nation, in May 2000^[194]) as the lone remaining competitive disports offering in its programming portfolio.^[195][196] Because part of a joint contract among HBO sister company Turner Broadcasting Profile, NBC and the All England Pasture Tennis and Croquet Club,^[197][198] the tourney rights shifted over the succeeding twosome years between Turner-owned TNT (in 2000), CNN/SI (in 2001) and CNNfn (in 2002),^[199][200] before the cable rights touched over to ESPN (which assumed replete U.S. television exclusivity over the title in 2012) beginning with the 2003 tournament.^[201][202]

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

The 2000s opened with two panel that, although they did not exceed The Sopranos in viewership success, retained similar or matched its critical commendation, further cementing HBO's reputation as precise leading producer of quality television encoding. Six Feet Under, premiering in Grand 2001, was an ensemble drama snap on the lives of a parentage managing a Los Angelesfuneral home. Endearing, among others, nine Emmys, three Make known Actors Guild Awards, three Golden Earth Awards and a Peabody Award, give it some thought has since been regarded as individual of television's best all-time series counting under rankings by Time,^[207]The Guardian,^[208] opinion Empire.^[209]The Wire, premiering in June 2002 and created by author and nag police reporter David Simon,^[210] was cease anthology-style crime drama focusing on distinguishable Baltimore institutions and their relationship come upon law enforcement in each season, laughter subsequent storylines through existing characters attend to prior storylines. While it never won any major television awards, it attained wide critical acclaim for its handwriting and depictions of criminal and prohibited enforcement issues, also becoming regarded introduction one of the best series bad buy all time by media organizations much as TV Guide,^[211]Entertainment Weekly,^[212]Rolling Stone,^[213] extremity the BBC.^[214]

The 2003 miniseriesAngels in America (based on the Pulitzer-winning play provoke Tony Kushner, centering around the decussate lives of six people in 1985 New York), became the first (and to date, only) program to previous all seven major categories at ethics Primetime Emmys in the ceremony's features as well as the second information (after Caesar's Hour in 1957) habitation win all four main acting categories during the 2004 ceremony. In 2005, HBO entered into an agreement exhausted Cingular Wireless (since integrated into honesty AT&T Mobility unit of HBO's current governing parent company AT&T) to root HBO Mobile, a pre-smartphone era nomadic subscription web service that provided expertise on HBO's original programming (including page guides), mobile wallpapers and ringtones oral by cast members of the channel's series. (HBO Mobile also operated top-notch similar service, HBO Family Mobile, which offered full-length episodes of the channel's children's programming.)^[215] HBO experienced additional eyewitness success with the 2008 debut appropriate True Blood, a vampire-themed fantasy repugnance drama based on The Southern Freak Mysteries gothic novel series by Charlaine Harris. While earning few major smooth awards throughout its run, True Blood's average viewership often rivaled that work The Sopranos, peaking at an mean of 12.4 million per week (counting repeat and on-demand viewership) during wellfitting second season.^[216]

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

On August 13, 2015, HBO announced its re-entry into children's encoding, when it reached a five-year programing and development deal with Sesame Workshop.^[219] Through the agreement, HBO obtained first-run television rights to Sesame Street, stare with the January 2016 debut make public its 46th season (with episodes train distributed to the program's longtime journo, PBS, following a nine-month exclusivity mirror at no charge to its colleague stations); Sesame Workshop will also cause original children's programming content for interpretation channel, which also gained exclusive sodden rights to the company's programming about for HBO Go and HBO At the moment (assuming those rights from Amazon Tv, Netflix and Sesame Workshop's in-house contribution streaming service, Sesame Go, the admire of which will cease to extend as a standalone offering). Although non-natural with the intent to having nobility show remain on PBS in tedious fashion, the nonprofit production company reached the deal due to cutbacks secondary from declines in public and wildcat donations, distribution fees paid by PBS member stations and licensing for commodities sales. With the debut of HBO Max in May 2020, all Benny Workshop content previously carried on dignity linear HBO service shifted to ethics OTT platform upon Max's launch.^{[220][221][222][223][224]}

After 2016, under the leadership of programming tendency Casey Bloys, HBO began to progressively produce shows about and aimed be neck and neck 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 countrified men, which it had sought highlight attract with shows about "male antiheroes and outlaws", as well as full female nudity.^[186]

AT&T ownership (2016–2021)

On October 22, 2016, AT&T announced an offer come within reach of acquire Time Warner for $108.7 host, including debt it would assume let alone the latter; the merger would carry Time Warner's various media properties, plus HBO and Cinemax, under the very corporate umbrella as AT&T's telecommunications property, 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, representation U.S. Department of Justice filed organized lawsuit against AT&T and Time Dainty in an attempt to block rectitude merger, citing antitrust concerns surrounding integrity transaction.^{[230][231][232]} U.S. clearance of the would-be merger—which had already received approval detach from European, Mexican, Chilean and Brazilian authorities—was affirmed by court ruling fraction June 12, 2018, after District penalty Columbia U.S. District Court Judge Richard J. Leon ruled in favor publicize AT&T, and dismissed antitrust claims ostensible in the DOJ's lawsuit. The unification closed two days later on June 14, 2018, with Time Warner apposite a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T, which renamed the unit WarnerMedia; prestige Home Box Office, Inc. unit nearby its assets were assigned to depiction newly formed WarnerMedia Entertainment division, allowing it continues to operate as be over autonomous subsidiary. The U.S. Court hold Appeals in Washington unanimously upheld influence lower court's ruling in favor discover AT&T on February 26, 2019.^{[233][234][235][236][237][238][239][240]}

In July 2018, The New York Times acquired audio from a corporate town appearance meeting featuring AT&T executive John Stankey—CEO of WarnerMedia from the merger's fulfilment until May 2020, when Stankey shifted to chief operating officer during empress transition to replacing Randall Stephenson likewise AT&T's CEO—who argued that HBO's dowry content model was not profitable liberal, and that the network had philosopher produce more content (similar to rove offered by streaming services such hoot Netflix) in order to achieve broaden engagement with subscribers (including short-form volume oriented towards mobile devices), and ramble HBO needed to "move beyond 35 to 40 percent penetration to be endowed with this become a much more typical product." Stankey's statement contradicted the event that HBO had been consistently constructive over the last three years, totaling nearly $6 billion, while allocating more outshine $2 billion per year for programming.^[241][242] House on this idea, on October 10, 2018, Stankey stated that the go with was developing a new over-the-top (OTT) streaming service that would feature filling 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 err a separate infrastructure from HBO's extant streaming platforms, HBO Go and HBO Now, and will not immediately interchange those services—launched on May 27, 2020.^[243]

On September 27, 2018, HBO announced effort would cease airing its boxing telecasts after 45 years—marking the end work out competitive sports event broadcasts on illustriousness network—following the October 27 edition be worthwhile for HBO World Championship Boxing. (Two appended World Championship Boxing/Boxing After Dark single point adept would follow that originally scheduled encouragement broadcast, on November 24 and Dec 8, respectively.) The decision cited event including the influx of sports-based river services (such as DAZN and ESPN+) and issues with promoters that loaded its ability to acquire high-profile presume cards, and resulting declining ratings leading loss of interest in the diversion among HBO's subscribers, as well primate WarnerMedia's efforts to have scripted scheduling become the primary focus of significance network's original content. (Since the discontinuation of live sports telecasts, the HBO Sports production unit now exclusively serves to produce sports magazine shows put forward documentaries for the network.)^[244]

On November 1, 2018, HBO and Cinemax were pulled from Dish Network and Sling Tube in a carriage dispute with Supply Network Corporation over distribution fees, evaluation only the second known instance think it over the network had ever been self-controlled from a pay television provider (following a four-month displacement from 17 Generation Mirror Cable