HBO
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.jpeg) It’s not TV, it's HBO.
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Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc. Maintaining a general entertainment format, 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, the very first continuously operating subscription television service (basic or a la carte premium) in the United States, 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 HBO Max, 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 WarnerMedia properties. The HBO linear channels are not presently accessible on HBO Max, but continue to be available to existing subscribers of traditional and virtual pay television providers (including Hulu, which also sells its HBO add-on independently of the streaming service's live TV tier) and as live streams to legacy Roku customers through existing streaming partnerships with those companies.
The overall Home Box Office business unit—based at WarnerMedia's corporate headquarters inside 30 Hudson Yards in Manhattan's West Side district—is one of WarnerMedia's most profitable assets (after Warner Bros. Entertainment), generating operating income of nearly $2 billion each year as of 2017.
Why It Makes the Magic Shine
- The birth of cable and satellite television.
- A very shiny concept of the television network dedicated to movies and sports.
- It was prior to both The Movie Channel and ESPN networks.
- It was successfully launched with the telecast, a National Hockey League (NHL) game between the New York Rangers and the Vancouver Canucks from Madison Square Garden, followed by the 1971 film Sometimes a Great Notion.
- Its most iconic logo, created by Betty E. Brugger.
- It had multiplex channels:
- HBO2: Launched on August 1, 1991, HBO2 offers a separate schedule of theatrical and original made-for-cable movies (including daytime airings of R-rated films that the main HBO channel is usually restricted from airing in the morning, early- and mid-afternoon hours), series and specials, as well as same-week rebroadcasts of newer films, and recent episodes and occasional complete-season "catch-up" marathons of original series first aired on the primary HBO channel.
- HBO Comedy: Launched on May 6, 1999, HBO Comedy features comedic films, as well as rebroadcasts of HBO's original comedy series and stand-up specials; although the channel broadcasts R-rated films during the daytime hours, HBO Comedy only airs adult comedy specials at night.
- HBO Family: Launched on December 1, 1996, HBO Family (HBO's awnser to Nickelodeon) features feature films and TV series aimed at children and teenagers, as such, it is the only HBO channel that does not air R, NC-17 or TV-MA rated program content. In fact, HBO Family also airs Sesame Street, while PBS airing the show as its second-run program. Prior to this, HBO launches its two short-lived channels, Take 2 (1979 to 1981) and Festival (1986 to 1988), in order to develope its very own kids' channel.
- HBO Latino: Launched on November 1, 2000 (although originally slated to debut on September 18 of that year), HBO Latino offers programming catering to Hispanic and Latino American audiences, including HBO original productions, Spanish and Portuguese series sourced from HBO Latin America, dubbed versions of American theatrical releases, and domestic and imported Spanish-language films. Outside of breakaways for exclusive original and acquired programs, and separate promotional advertising between programs, HBO Latino largely acts as a de facto Spanish language simulcast of the primary HBO channel. (All other HBO multiplex channels provide alternate Spanish audio tracks of most of their programming via second audio program feeds.) HBO Latino is the indirect successor to HBO en Español (originally named Selecciones en Español de HBO y Cinemax), which launched in 1989.
- HBO Signature: HBO Signature features high-quality films, HBO original series and specials. Launched on August 1, 1991, the channel was originally known as "HBO 3" until September 30, 1998, maintaining a genericized format similar to HBO and HBO2; it rebranded as HBO Signature the following day (October 1), when its programming shifted focus around movies, series and specials targeted at a female audience.
- HBO Zone: Launched on May 6, 1999, HBO Zone airs movies and HBO original programs aimed at young adults between the ages of 18 and 34. Until Home Box Office, Inc. removed sister network Cinemax's Max After Dark adult programming block and all associated programming from its other television and streaming platforms in 2018, HBO Zone also carried softcore pornographic films acquired for the Cinemax block in late-night, dependent on their inclusion on each day's program schedule; as such, it is the only HBO channel that has aired adult-oriented pornographic movies on its regular schedule.
- The logo would become widely recognized through a program opening sequence, often nicknamed "HBO in Space," produced in late 1981 by New York City-based production firm Liberty Studios and used in some capacity from September 20, 1982, to October 31, 1997. During the opening, you'll noticed, you'll see HBO having its very own movie theater.
- The on-air graphics are decent, especially from the late-1970s, the early-to-mid 1980s, the mid-to-late 1990s and of course, the early-to-mid 2000s.
- The success of HBO, led to the launch of the network itself around the United States. on September 30, 1975, with the boxing match, Thrilla in Manila.
- Its international channels are decent.
- By 1981, as the HBO network became very popular, it apoted a 24-hour programming schedule.
- It has lots of original shows, from comedy (Animals, On Location, The Righteous Gemstones, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Not Necessarily the News, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and Mr. Show with Bob and David), to sports (HBO World Championship Boxing, HBO Sports Bowling, Inside the NFL, Race for the Pennant, Tennis on HBO, Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel and The Shop), to drama (Philip Marlowe, Private Eye, Oz, The Sopranos, Deadwood, The Gilded Age, Game of Thrones and the reboot of Perry Mason).
- The miniseries are also enjoyable to watch like Mrs. Fletcher and Watchmen.
- It had original children's shows, including Fraggle Rock, The Baby-Sitters Club, Crashbox and The Little Lulu Show. Speaking of children's programming, by 2016, due to the fact that PBS having paying problems, HBO decided to air the award-winning preschool-oriented Sesame Street as its first-run program, to help have enough money for PBS, while PBS airing this show as its second-run show.
- It had many good original specials. Speaking of primetime animated specials, it had a series of original animated specials, under the name of HBO Storybook Musicals.
- It became even better, when Warner Communications acquires HBO, to become its flagship cable network in 1989.
- By 1991, alongside Cinemax and Showtime, HBO quickly decided to launch multiplex channels.
- What's even more best than you think that: the HBO had Actively avoided the Network Decay since 1972!
The Only Bad Quality
- They aired some bad or mediocre movies and TV shows, such as the eighth season of Game of Thrones, and more infamously, Leaving Neverland.
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