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).
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.
Series and miniseries broadcast by HBO include:
This network provides examples of:
