If you’re a fan of hit TV shows like Game of Thrones and The Sopranos, you’ve likely heard of Home Box Office, Inc. (HBO). But do you know who founded Home Box Office, Inc.? In this blog, we’ll explore the origins of HBO and the visionary individual who started it all. From the company’s groundbreaking innovations in the cable television industry to its current status as a multinational media and entertainment giant, we’ll dive into the story of HBO’s founding and its lasting impact on the world of television.
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About Home Box Office, Inc.?
Home Box Office, Inc. (HBO) is a multinational media and entertainment company that operates under the Warner Bros. Discovery umbrella. It is headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in Manhattan. HBO’s main properties include its pay television network, HBO, sister service Cinemax, HBO Films, and the international streaming service, HBO Go. HBO Max, another HBO-branded service, is operated by sister subsidiary Warner Bros. Discovery Global Streaming and Interactive Entertainment. Home Box Office, Inc. also holds ownership interests in international versions of HBO and Cinemax, managed through sister division Warner Bros. Discovery International.
The company has been a pioneer in the cable television industry, with notable achievements including the satellite uplink of HBO as the first network in the world to transmit through that technology and the development of original programming for pay television.
Who founded Home Box Office, Inc.?
Home Box Office, Inc. (HBO) was founded by Charles Dolan, who was granted a franchise permit by the New York City Council to build a cable television system in Lower Manhattan in 1965.
Brief History
HBO was founded on December 1, 1965, when Charles Dolan was granted a franchise permit by the New York City Council to build a cable television system that covered the Lower Manhattan section of New York City. Dolan’s first television venture was Teleguide, a closed-circuit television system started by his initial company, Sterling Movies USA, in June 1962.
Sterling Manhattan Cable Television was the first urban underground cable television system to operate in the United States. In the early 1970s, during a family vacation to France, Dolan conceived the idea of a cable-originated television channel called “The Green Channel”. The proposed service would offer unedited theatrical movies licensed from the major Hollywood film studios and live sporting events, all presented without interruptions by advertising, and sell for a flat monthly fee to prospective subscribers.
Film and television production
During the 1980s, Home Box Office, Inc. diversified beyond cable television, entering into a joint venture with Columbia Pictures and CBS Theatrical Films to create Tri-Star Pictures, which produced feature films. HBO also created its film division, HBO Premiere Films, which produced made-for-cable movies with higher budgets and production values, featuring major film actors.
HBO expanded into independent film production and formed another unit, HBO Showcase, to focus on high-quality drama productions. HBO entered into partnerships to create Silver Screen Partners and Cinema Plus L.P. to finance feature film production, but they were not commercial or critical successes. In 1988, HBO Downtown Productions was formed to produce comedy specials for HBO and program content for Comedy Central, while HBO Independent Productions produced sitcoms for broadcast television and basic cable networks throughout its 16-year existence. Time Warner consolidated HBO’s film divisions into a singular unit, HBO Films, in 1999.
