 | |
| Type | Premium television network |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Broadcast area | National |
| Headquarters | 30 Hudson Yards, New York City[1] |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | English, Spanish (HBO Latino; also as SAP option on all other channels) |
| Picture format | 1080i (HDTV) (downscaled to letterboxed 480i for the network's SDTV channel feeds) |
| Timeshift service | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Warner Bros. Discovery |
| Parent | Home Box Office, Inc. |
| Key people |
|
| Sister channels | List
|
| History | |
| Launched | November 8, 1972 |
| Founder | Charles Dolan |
| Former names | Sterling Cable Network (proposed; 1972) |
| Links | |
| Website | hbo |
| Availability | |
| Streaming media | |
| Max | max
|
| Hulu | hulu
|
| YouTube TV | tv
|
| (subscription to Max add-on required to access linear feeds and VOD content)[note 2] | |
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based at Warner Bros. Discovery's corporate headquarters inside 30 Hudson Yards in Manhattan. Programming featured on the network consists primarily of theatrically released motion pictures and original television programs as well as made-for-cable movies, documentaries, occasional comedy, and concert specials, and periodic interstitial programs (consisting of short films and making-of documentaries).
HBO is the oldest subscription television service in the United States still in operation, as well as the country's first cable-originated television network (both as a regional microwave- and national satellite-transmitted service).[2] HBO pioneered modern pay television upon its launch on November 8, 1972: it was the first television service to be directly transmitted and distributed to individual cable television systems, and was the conceptual blueprint for the "premium channel", pay television services sold to subscribers for an extra monthly fee that do not accept traditional advertising and present their programming without editing for objectionable material. It eventually became the first television channel in the world to begin transmitting via satellite—expanding the growing regional pay service, originally available to cable and multipoint distribution service (MDS) providers in the northern Mid-Atlantic and southern New England, into a national television network—in September 1975, and, alongside sister channel Cinemax, was among the first two American pay television services to offer complimentary multiplexed channels in August 1991.
The network operates seven 24-hour, linear multiplex channels as well as a traditional subscription video on demand platform (HBO On Demand) and its content is the centerpiece of Max (previously HBO Max from 2020 to 2023), an expanded streaming platform operated separately from but sharing management with Home Box Office, Inc., which also includes original programming produced exclusively for the service and content from other Warner Bros. Discovery properties. Livestreams of the network's linear East and West Coast feeds are not presently accessible on the Max streaming app, but are available via its a la carte add-ons sold through Prime Video Channels, YouTube Primetime Channels and virtual pay television providers Hulu and YouTube TV (both of which sell their HBO/Max add-ons independently of their respective live TV tiers).[3][4]
As of September 2018[update], HBO's programming was available to approximately 35.656 million U.S. households that had a subscription to a multichannel television provider (34.939 million of which receive HBO's primary channel at minimum),[5] giving it the largest subscriber total of any American premium channel. (From 2006 to 2018, this distinction was held by Starz Encore—currently owned by Lionsgate subsidiary Starz Inc.—which, according to February 2015 Nielsen estimates, had 40.54 million pay subscribers vs. the 35.8 million subscribers that HBO had at the time.)[6][7] In addition to its U.S. subscriber base, HBO distributes its programming content in at least 151 countries worldwide too, as of 2018[update], an estimated 140 million cumulative subscribers.[8][9]
- ^ "Contact US - WarnerMedia". WarnerMedia. September 2, 2022. Archived from the original on September 2, 2022. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
- ^ Brandon, Elissaveta M. (May 26, 2023). "What was HBO Max thinking? 3 experts decode the rebrand blunder of the year". Fast Company. Archived from the original on June 1, 2023. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
- ^ Denise Petski (July 6, 2017). "Hulu Adds HBO In Time For 'Game Of Thrones Season 7 Premiere". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on August 1, 2020. Retrieved November 2, 2022.
- ^ Kris Holt (September 30, 2022). "You can now buy some YouTube TV add-ons without the $65 base plan". Engadget. Retrieved November 2, 2022.
- ^ Andrew Bucholtz (September 10, 2018). "Nielsen coverage estimates for September see gains at ESPN networks, NBCSN, and NBA TV, drops at MLBN and NFLN (Cable Network Coverage Area Household Universe Estimates: September 2018)". Awful Announcing. NESN Digital. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
- ^ Robert Seidman (July 21, 2015). "List of how many homes each cable network is in as of July 2015". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on July 24, 2015. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
- ^ "2015 Company Overview" (Press release). Starz Inc. December 31, 2014. Retrieved March 23, 2015.
- ^ "HBO: Home Box Office". Time Warner. September 24, 2012. Archived from the original on February 9, 2014. Retrieved October 5, 2012.
- ^ AT&T 10-K for 2018
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