Home Box Office | |
---|---|
Launched | November 8, 1972 |
Owned by | Home Box Office, Inc. (Time Warner) |
Picture format |
1080i (HDTV) (downgraded to letterboxed 480i for SDTV feed) |
Slogan | It's Not TV. It's HBO. |
Country | United States |
Language | English Spanish (HBO Latino only and via SAP audio track on primary HBO channel and all other multiplex channels; some films may be distributed in their native language and subtitled into English) |
Broadcast area | Nationwide |
Headquarters | New York City, New York, U.S. |
Formerly called | The Green Channel (proposed name) |
Sister channel(s) | Cinemax |
Timeshift service | HBO East, HBO West, HBO2 East, HBO2 West, HBO Comedy East, HBO Comedy West, HBO Family East, HBO Family West, HBO Latino East, HBO Latino West, HBO Signature East, HBO Signature West, HBO Zone East, HBO Zone West |
Website | hbo |
Availability
|
|
Satellite | |
DirecTV |
HBO: East: 501 (HD/SD) West: 504 (HD/SD) HBO2: East: 502 (HD/SD) West: 505 (HD/SD) HBO Signature: 503 (HD/SD) HBO Comedy: 506 (HD) HBO Family: East: 507 (HD/SD) West: 508 (SD) HBO Zone: 509 (HD) HBO Latino: 511 (HD) HBO On Demand: 1501 |
Dish Network |
HBO: East: 300 (HD/SD) West: 303 (HD/SD) HBO2: East: 301 (HD/SD) West: 304 (SD) HBO Signature: 302 (HD/SD) HBO Family: 305 (HD/SD) HBO Comedy: 307 (HD/SD) HBO Zone: 308 (HD only) HBO Latino: 309 (HD/SD) |
Cable | |
Available on all U.S. cable systems | Consult your local cable provider or program listings source for channel availability |
Verizon FiOS | 899–913 (HD) 400–413 (SD) |
IPTV | |
AT&T U-verse | 1802–1815 (HD) 802–815 (SD) |
CenturyLink Prism | 1802–1815 (HD) 802–815 (SD) |
TalkTalk TV (UK) | On Demand – Buy & Keep |
Zazeen (Canada) | 172–173 (HD/SD) |
Streaming media | |
HBO Go |
play (U.S. cable Internet subscribers only; requires login from pay television provider to access content) |
HBO Now |
www (requires subscription to access content) |
PlayStation Vue | Internet Protocol television |
Sling TV | Internet Protocol television |
DirecTV Now | Internet Protocol television |
Division | |
Industry | Entertainment |
Founded | November 8, 1972 |
Headquarters | New York City, United States |
Area served
|
Worldwide |
Key people
|
Richard Plepler (CEO) John K. Billock (President of HBO U.S. Group) Sue Naegle (President of Entertainment) |
Products | Pay television, television production |
Parent | Time Warner |
Divisions | |
Subsidiaries | HBO Original Productions HBO Films |
Website | homeboxoffice |
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium cable and satellite television network that is owned by Time Warner through its respective flagship company Home Box Office, Inc. Programming featured on the network consists primarily of theatrically released motion pictures and original television series, along with made-for-cable movies and documentaries, boxing matches, and occasional stand-up comedy and concert specials.
HBO is the oldest and longest continuously operating pay television service (basic or premium) in the United States, having been in operation since November 8, 1972. In 2014, HBO had an adjusted operating income of US$1.79 billion, compared to the US$1.68 billion it accrued in 2013.
As of July 2015, HBO's programming is available to approximately 36,483,000 households with at least one television set (31.3% of all cable, satellite and telco customers) in the United States (36,013,000 subscribers or 30.9% of all households with pay television service receive at least HBO's primary channel), making it the second largest premium channel in the United States (Encore, owned by Starz Inc., reaches 40.54 million pay television households as of July 2015[update]). In addition to its U.S. subscriber base, HBO distributes content in at least 151 countries, covering approximately 122 million subscribers worldwide.
HBO subscribers generally pay for an extra tier of service that includes other cable- and satellite-exclusive channels even before paying for the channel itself (though HBO often prices all of its channels together in a single package). However, a law imposed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requires that cable providers allow subscribers to get just "limited" basic cable (a base programming tier that includes local, and in some areas, out-of-market broadcast stations and public, educational, and government access channels) and premium services such as HBO, without subscribing to expanded service (Comcast is the only major provider to have purposefully offered the network in such a manner utilizing this law, as it offered a bundled cable/Internet package that included limited basic service and HBO from October 2013 to July 2014, or January of the latter year in some markets). Cable providers can require the use of a converter box – usually digital – in order to receive HBO.