HBO: The World's Leading Cable Channel

Cable channels have been highly popular for decades, as they provide services that regular channels and other forms of entertainment cannot and do not: showing previously released theatrical motion pictures, creating original television series and made-for-cable movies, showing documentaries and sports events as well as concerts, variety shows and other live events. Such has been the role of cable giant HBO, or Home Box Office, since it was first launched in 1972. HBO has launched some of the most successful television series, including “Sex and the City”, “The Sopranos”, “Six Feet Under”, “True Blood”, “Entourage”, “The Wire”, and the blockbuster, widely-acclaimed “Game of Thrones”.

The groundwork for HBO and cable in general was laid out by Charles Dolan in 1965. Dolan built a cable system in New York City, called the Sterling Manhattan Cable, in order to better transmit television signals. This became America's first underground cable system for television and Dolan's “The Green Channel” idea was bought by Time Life. The channel changed its name to HBO and in 1972, aired its first film, “Sometimes a Great Notion”, jump-starting the cable television era. Soon, HBO was able to expand its area of availability, transmit signals via satellite and operate from its original 9 hours a day to a full 24 hour-run. In 1983, HBO broadcast its first original movie and its first show for kids and the rest, as the saying goes, is history.

Originally a venue for subscribers to be able to watch movies from the comfort of their homes and catch up on television series, HBO has now become one of the most prominent cable channels in the world, reaching an estimated 30 million viewers in the United States alone. HBO broadcasts to more than 150 countries with a worldwide viewership of some 114 million subscribers, and has spawned international versions in Brazil, the Caribbean, India, Mexico, the Netherlands, Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia. It continues to be a dominant force in the entertainment industry and has a subscribership to support its massive success.