The Home Box Office. Originally started in 1965 as "The Green Network", then changed to HBO in 1972. Unlike most cable stations, HBO is a premium station, meaning you have to pay for the right to watch the channel on top of what you pay as far as cable packaging is concerned (though in recent years, most cable and satellite networks have started offering premium TV packages that
do include HBO and its sister stations, including Cinemax). Note the start dates above, too - until about 1980 the concept of "basic cable" didn't exist. There was broadcast TV delivered by cable (one of each of the three major networks plus several independent stations from a wide radius and, at least in the northern states,
CBC) and there was "pay TV".
To entice people to pay for the channel, HBO used to offer free "preview" periods. Depending on your cable provider, HBO will temporarily "unscramble" its channels for the briefest of periods (usually for one week, one weekend, or one month) to draw in customers who will then pony up the money to buy the channel full time. However, HBO does it much more rarely than
Showtime or
Starz to keep its cache, and usually only on weekends, where its highest-profile series are launched.
HBO's line-up mainly consists of major studio films, shown uncut and commercial free. While the main HBO station focuses on new blockbusters, sister station Cinemax focuses on older films and more arthouse-centric movies. In addition, HBO produced original films, and started producing their own series in the '80s (such as
First And Ten and
Dream On). However, HBO's popularity increased even further in the late 1990s, when two of these series,
Sex and the City and
The Sopranos, really took off. These two series gained a great deal of acclaim, and swept the Emmys for a while. In addition to original programming and movies, HBO is famous for its coverage of boxing matches.
HBO has six sister networks that are almost always included with the main HBO channel to make the network a good value for most of its audience:
- HBO 2 Airs more films than the main HBO with the same variety, and series usually premiere here on a one-day delay to offer viewers a second (or by the end of the week, 46th) chance to view them.
- HBO Family The network's competitor to Nickelodeon and the Disney Channel, with movies and children's programming both created for the network and internationally made, and nary a movie rated R in sight.
- HBO Signature Female-targeted network mainly airing "high-art" Hollywood releases, romantic comedies, and art films.
- HBO Comedy Exactly What It Says on the Tin; Comedy films and the deep library of HBO comedy specials and series air here.
- HBO Zone The younger-targeting part of the HBO suite which mainly airs films appealing to 18-35'ers and plenty of science fiction films. HBO has aired original series marathons on this network more lately. Also outside of the few adult shows airing on HBO, the only HBO network which airs soft-core adult content, along with old episodes of Real Sex.
The network also offers the internet service
HBO GO, which basically offers nearly every HBO series, documentary and special created after
Sex and the City premiered and the current movies airing on HBO. Currently only cable and satellite operators that have made agreements to offer HBO GO allow access to the service with their customer login, though a swell of non-cable viewers looking for their
Girls fix have wanted HBO to offer a paid subscription to the service. However, HBO has said they can't do this, and until Internet-served television is the norm and they can make the cable/pay TV model online, looks unlikely to occur.
Series and miniseries broadcast by HBO include:
This network provides examples of:
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