“Box office” is a heavily used term in the entertainment industry, describing the height of success for movies, plays, and actors in terms of their audience reach and/or revenue brought in. For a project to be considered a box office hit, it has to be equal parts innovative, relatable, cutting edge and thrilling, and in 1927, Time Inc. executives joined forces to build a company whose mission was to encapsulate just that. They called it: Home Box Office, a.k.a HBO.
HBO was built on the concept of showcasing commercial-free, unabridged, raw and provocative content. It has always placed itself at the top of the cable television food chain by charging its subscribers extra to view content and has solidified itself as being the first and the leader in its industry. In 1975 it seized the title of the first national cable channel when it became the first American network to distribute its content by way of satellite. Fast forward to 2020, with its highly acclaimed roster of original scripted content including Game of Thrones, Chernobyl and Barry, HBO received more Emmy nominations than any other network this year. It strategically navigated its unpredictable situation when five of its biggest hits came to an end in 2019. Its executives took a chance on several new and unpredictable content like Watchmen, The Righteous Gemstones, and Euphoria. Though incredibly risky, these shows became some of the best of the year. Needless to say, HBO has always defied the odds and maintained its place as a trailblazer in its industry especially in terms of original scripted series.
Cable television executive Charles Dolan is a key player in the development of this industry powerhouse. In 1971 Dolan was faced with the growing financial loss of his company, “Sterling Information Services” and developed a proposal for a cable-originated television channel. The proposal was entitled, “Home Box Office” which was meant to insinuate to customers that the service would be their “ticket” to movies and events. Once launched, the Home Box Office’s integrated sports coverage elevated it against competing subscription television services and also laid the groundwork for ESPN’s conception. However, the company underwent significant milestones along the way. For instance, in 1983 HBO pivoted from producing unscripted programming to original scripted programming. It launched the first satirical news show entitled, Not Necessarily the News, which paved the way for the infamous news satires we know today: The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. Additionally, HBO underwent an overall pivot from the “box office” movie focus established at its conception, to catapulting into the world of modern pay television.
Based on the activities of its past, it is clear that HBO values innovation and raw, provocative original content and they like to be the first. I think that HBO will take the lead in terms of navigating production and content development through the unfamiliarity of COVID-19, creating innovative ways to film premium content in-person under CDC guidelines and ultimately setting the tone for its streaming competitors.
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