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| Type | Pay televisionnetwork |
|---|---|
| Programming | |
| Picture format | 1080i (HDTV) (downscaled to16:9576i for theSDTV feed) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Warner Bros. Discovery |
| Parent | Home Box Office, Inc. (managed by Warner Bros.) |
| Sister channels |
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| Links | |
| Website | www.hbo.com |
Home Box Office (HBO)—originally established on November 8, 1972, as apremiumcable televisionnetwork in theUnited States—has, since 1991, expanded into a family of international pay television channels presently owned byWarner Bros. Discovery subsidiaryHome Box Office, Inc. and operated through sister subsidiary Warner Bros. Discovery International or owned by third-party media companies throughprogramming andbrand licensing partnerships.
In countries where an HBO-branded network does not exist in its own right, the network's programming is licensed instead to domestic pay television services or through a basic cable channel; all of which are permitted to refer to themselves as the "Home of HBO" since 2010, such as withSky Atlantic andNow TV in parts of Europe,Fox Showcase andBinge in Australia, andAmazon Prime Video in France.[1][2]
Like its flagship U.S. channel, most of the international channels maintain a subscription-based model, in which they do not accepttraditional advertising and offer programming that includestheatrically releasedmotion pictures,originaltelevision programs (both licensed by the U.S. service and produced for individual regional channels),made-for-cable movies,documentaries, and occasionalstand-up comedy andconcertspecials. While HBO maintains international distribution rights for its original programs, the terms of its licensing agreements with film studios only retains it the right to broadcast them within the United States and the territories ofPuerto Rico,Guam and theU.S. Virgin Islands, therefore film rights for the international channels must be licensed separately.[3]
HBO Brazil was launched in 1991 as a partnership betweenGrupo Abril'sTVA, Time Warner andSony. It was developed as an analogue pay channel, but usedUHFbroadcast frequencies and ran its programming for nine hours each day. After the Brazilian financial crisis of the late 1990s, Grupo Abril sold its share in the network to Time Warner.
Canadian rights to HBO-owned and -distributed programming are held byBell Media, the mass-media unit of telecom companyBell Canada.[a] Programming is offered through Bell'sCrave pay television service, which includes anHBO-branded multiplex channel that launched in 2008 and features the U.S. channel's original programming; the over-the-topCrave streaming service; and Bell's French-language pay serviceSuper Écran, along with occasional airings of library programs on the company's basic cable channels. Outside of the requiredbrand licensing to use the HBO trademarks and logo, HBO parentWarner Bros. Discovery does not have an ownership interest in these services, and, as such, the Canadian service is the only HBO channel that WBD does not operate.
The HBO multiplex channel was launched asHBO Canada on October 30, 2008, as ajoint venture between two regional Canadian pay television services:Astral Media-ownedThe Movie Network (now Crave), which operated in provinces east of theOntario-Manitoba border, andCorus Entertainment-ownedMovie Central, which operated in provinces west of the aforementioned delineated border as well as theterritories. Prior to that date, both services had regularly featured HBO programming on their other channels, however some programs had aired on (or were later syndicated to) other broadcast or basic cable channels.
Most Canadian licensing rights to HBO programming have been consolidated under Bell Media after the company assumed television rights and established streaming rights to the HBO back-catalog following the completion of its acquisition of Astral Media in 2014. The Canadian HBO service would become tied to a single national pay service, when, on November 19, 2015, Corus Entertainment reached an agreement with Bell in which it would agree to cancel Movie Central's pay television license, and sell the network's distribution rights and subscriber base to Bell forC$211 million, in order to allow The Movie Network to expand into Western Canada. In turn, Bell expanded its programming agreement with HBO, obtaining exclusive distribution rights to the HBO programming library on its linear television channels, video-on-demand and digital platforms. Bell assumed full control of HBO Canada on March 1, 2016, coinciding with TMN replacing Movie Central on providers in the western half of Canada upon commencing distribution as a national service.[4][5]
Crave also holds domestic linear pay television and streaming rights to the majority of theatrical films that premiere in the U.S. on HBO, although films fromWarner Bros. Pictures,20th Century Studios andUniversal Pictures air primarily on Crave,Starz and their corresponding linear multiplex channels; the Canadian HBO linear channel exclusively airs the network's original series and films.
HBO Caribbean offers English-language broadcasts of HBO material geared towards the English- and Dutch-speakingCaribbean audience. HBO launched the channel to replace the Spanish foreign-language feed, which formerly served the English-speaking Caribbean market. HBO Caribbean is carried on cable providers such asFlow,Digicel,Canal+, Cable Bahamas andMulti-Choice TV.
Originally known as HBO OLÉ,HBO Latin America Group originated in 1991 as a partnership between Venezuelan broadcaster Omnivisión and HBO. The channel was initially available to cable and satellite providers acrossCentral andSouth America, and the Caribbean. HBO OLÉ reached a break-even profit by 1993, and had about 500,000 subscribers by 1994; that year, a secondary channel was launched, along with a Portuguese feed forBrazil.[3]Sony,The Walt Disney Company andUniversal Pictures later joined the partnership. Omnivisión eventually sold its share in the channel to Time Warner.
HBO Asia was originally co-owned byUIP Pay TV,Sony Pictures Entertainment, Time Warner andSingTel. Based inSingapore, it launched in 1993 and initially served only thePhilippines andThailand. HBO Asia expanded to incorporate feeds inMandarin Chinese,Thai andIndonesian, encompassing 23 countries across Asia.[3]
HBO Europe was originally launched inHungary in 1991 on KábelKom, a company that was created in 1991 as a joint venture between HBO parent Time Warner and United Communications International to provide cable television service to Hungary. The channel's programming was originally transmitted via microwave relay (in the same manner as the flagship HBO channel in the United States from 1972 to 1975), due to the economic issues in using satellite delivery to a country with a small population. By late 1994, HBO Hungary had a subscriber base of 160,000 households. Since that point, HBO has expanded into 15 European markets includingPoland, theCzech Republic,Slovakia,Romania,Bulgaria,Moldova,Croatia,Slovenia,Serbia,Bosnia and Herzegovina,Montenegro andNorth Macedonia.[3]
Sky Movies inNew Zealand originally operated as a joint venture between HBO andSky Network Television. The channel was renamed HBO in 1993; Time Warner later sold its share in the service to Sky in 1998, and it was renamed back to Sky Movies.[citation needed] HBO programming is currently shown by Sky channelHBO (formerly called SoHo) and its subscription streaming serviceNeon, in New Zealand.[6][7]
HBO South Asia was a regional pay television network operated byHome Box Office Inc.'s HBO Asia unit, which aired theatrical feature films from America and South Asia. Singapore based HBO Channels are telecast in Nepal. The network ceased operations on 15 December 2020[8]
HBO Netherlands launched on 9 February 2012 over cable television providerZiggo, as a three-channel multiplex service featuring HBO original programs airing on a day-behind basis from their initial United States broadcast. A local version ofHBO Go was also made available to subscribers of the service. HBO Netherlands was available to subscribers of Ziggo,KPN,UPC,XS4ALL,Telfort, fibre providers Glashart Media andVodafone Glasvezel and satellite broadcasterCanalDigitaal.
On 28 September 2016, HBO Netherlands announced that it would cease broadcasting on 31 December 2016.[9]
Following the 31 December 2016 closure of HBO Netherlands, cable television providerZiggo, as part of its acquisition of the broadcasting licenses to the network's content for the Dutch market, began offering HBO programs on itsvideo on demand service Ziggo Movies & Series XL.[9] Ziggo's rights to HBO programming expired on 31 December 2021, in anticipation of the 2022HBO Max launch in the Netherlands.
On August 15, 2012, HBO announced plans to launchHBO Nordic, a multiplatform video distribution service servingNorway,Denmark,Sweden andFinland that was created through a joint venture with Parsifal International.[10][11] Thevideo on demand service launched in December 2012.[12] HBO programming also airs inIceland onStöð (Channel 2).[13]
HBO Nordic announced that the service would be dissolved and was folded intoHBO Max, launching on October 26, 2021. All HBO Nordic subscribers were automatically transferred to HBO Max and new subscribers between October 26 and November 30 would have 50% off for a lifetime as long as they do not cancel their subscription.[14][15] People with the old HBO Nordic application on their phones were prompted to install HBO Max instead.
HBO programs were previously broadcast in Spain on pay television serviceCanal+.[16]
In 2016, HBO launched a standalone streaming service calledHBO España, which is the Spanish equivalent of HBO Now and HBO Nordic. It also has been replaced byHBO Max simultaneously with Nordics version of the service on 2021.
From September 2015 to December 2018, local premium television channelTVCine e Séries broadcast the majority of HBO's programs. A separate Portuguese streaming service,HBO Portugal, was launched in 2019.[17] According to a platform press release, in 2019,Game of Thrones andChernobyl were the most viewed programs on HBO Portugal.[18] HBO Portugal was replaced byHBO Max on 8 March 2022.
Under a long-term agreement until 2025 between HBO andSky Group (Comcast), Sky operatesSky Atlantic which broadcasts the majority of HBO's programming. Sky Atlantic is available in the UK, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg, Ireland and Italy.
In February 2011,Sky Atlantic launched on the Sky platforms in theUnited Kingdom andIreland, which maintains a distribution deal with HBO to offer the majority of its programming on the channel. Under the five-year agreement between HBO and Sky, newer HBO programs will air on Sky Atlantic before airing on other television channels within the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Prior to 2011,TG4 in Ireland had a long-term agreement to broadcast HBO programming free-to-air, this ceased following the creation of Sky Atlantic.
InItalian-speaking Switzerland, HBO shows are broadcast onRSI La 1.
On November 13, 2008,Orange launchedOrange Cinéma Séries (renamed OCS on 22 September 2012), a five channel package, dedicated to movie and series. The same year, Orange signed a long-term agreement to distribute all HBO productions in France. Originally, HBO programs were shared by OCS Max, OCS Novo, and OCS Choc but on October 10, 2013, OCS replaced OCS Novo withOCS City, to be the main channel for HBO productions in France. HBO productions were also available on OCS streaming service. In 2019, Orange and HBO extended their deal to give OCS the complete exclusivity on the HBO catalogue. Before that, HBO was able to make deals with other French channels for the rerun rights of their programs.
In December 2022, OCS's deal with HBO ended, and productions were removed from the service beginning in January 2023. The same month, Warner Bros. Discovery andAmazon Prime Video announced the launch of the "Warner Pass", anadd-on "channel" subscription that will include past and upcoming HBO programming, with Prime Video becoming the new home for HBO in France, after previously signed a deal with Warner Bros. Discovery to distribute theHBO Max programs owned by the company in October 2022. The channel will be launched in March 2023. Selected programs (likeThe Last of Us) will be given a release without a subscription to the channel.[19][20]
InFrench-speaking Switzerland, it also showed onRTS in English and with French dubbing, along with Frenchsubtitles, and soon after on the website. It is only accessible from Switzerland.[21]
Since 2017, Amedia broadcast the majority of the HBO programming in most of the CIS territories, except in Russia, where broadcasting ceased in 2022 as a result of theRussian invasion of Ukraine.[22][23]
Nova has a long-term agreement with HBO to broadcast the majority of HBO programs in Greece and Cyprus. In 2015,Nova Cinema announced a new output deal with HBO to broadcast the biggest hit series in Greece and Cyprus at the same time with the US. The fifth season ofGame of Thrones premiered on 12 April 2015 on HBO and Nova Cinema at the same time.
On February 19, 2018, Belgian telecommunications company Proximus announced a deal to carry theBeTV bouquet for the distribution of HBO programs inFrench-speaking Belgium.[24] HBO shows airs onBe 1, nicknamedHome of HBO.
For Flanders,Streamz, which is owned byTelenet andDPG Media, broadcasts HBO shows.
Since September 1, 2018, telecommunications providerTelia has added HBO streaming services to their networks inEstonia andLithuania,[25][26][27] whileTet carries HBO programming inLatvia.[28]
Cable television network Melita More shows several HBO programs in Malta since 2011.
Astro Citra is aMalay version ofHBO Asia.[citation needed] It is featuring local & international movie with Malay and English subtitles.
After signing a deal with HBO, on 1 February 2016United Arab Emirates-based subscription television providerOSN launchedOSN First HD - Home of HBO, a premium channel that specifically airs HBO productions including movies, serials and others.[29][30] Since OSN's services are pan-regional, the channel is available to multiple countries in theMENA region.
As of 2019, most HBO programs are broadcast on OSN First Series' "HBO Night" block following a rebranding of OSN's channels, and in 2022 OSN launched OSN Showcase (now OSN TV Showcase).
In Japan,U-Next reached a deal to carry HBO and HBO Max original programs in Japan beginning in April 2021. This replaced a previous deal between HBO andAmazon Prime Video Japan.[31]
HBO signed an exclusive deal with the South African streaming serviceShowmax owned by MultiChoice Group. This deal includes exclusive streaming rights to every single HBO title and new episodes to be added the same day they air in theUnited States.[32]
The HBO shows are broadcast on Canal+ for the Francophone market.
Fox Showcase, an Australian premium television service that launched in 1995, began airing HBO original programming in 2012, through a licensed distribution arrangement with subscription television providerFoxtel. Prior to this, limited HBO content was broadcast through the now-defunctMovie Network, which was founded by HBO (throughTime Warner),Village Roadshow,Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer andDisney–ABC International Television. HBO Originals are also available on demand via Foxtel servicesFoxtel Now andBinge.
In 2005, the HBO Mobile wireless service launched viaVodafone in theUnited Kingdom,Ireland,Belgium, theNetherlands,Germany,Austria,Switzerland,Italy,Spain andSouth Africa, and viaSK Telecom inKorea in 2006. In 2006, HBO's subscription video-on-demand service HBO On Demand launched in Israel onHOT, marking the first standalone HBO service to be offered outside the United States. The service launched in the United Kingdom in 2007 viaBT Vision,TalkTalk TV andVirgin Media,[needs update] and then rolled out toCyprus in 2008 through PrimeTv of PrimeTel Ltd. InAustralia, HBO Originals are carried onFoxtel'sFoxtel Now andBinge services. In India, Home Box Office's self-owned Originals are carried on21st Century Fox'sHotstar from 2016 to 2023, which rebranded to Disney+ Hotstar since early 2020 followingDisney's acquisition of much of 21st Century Fox's assets, it later moved toViacom18'sJioCinema in 27 April 2023.[33][34] In Southeast Asia, South Asia (excluding India and Pakistan) and Korea, HBO Asia launchedHBO Go starting from 2013 in Hong Kong and gradually expanded it to countries across the region in partnership with local telecom giants for those subscribing to HBO TV network through those partners, only to relaunch it as OTT subscription service since 2016. It is slated and expected to be replaced by the streaming service which encompass all WBD properties namedMax (which would be a proposed merger between HBO Max andDiscovery+) on November 19, 2024,[35][36][37] following the merger of parent company WarnerMedia withDiscovery, Inc. to form and becomeWarner Bros. Discovery.
Home Box Office licenses its original programming to television networks and OTT services in over 150 countries, including arrangements under which it licenses programming to television networks that are branded as the "Home of HBO" in countries such as the U.K., Australia, France and Germany and as "HBO Canada" in Canada.
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| The Cartoon Network, Inc. |
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| Defunct and former ventures |
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