- published: 18 Dec 2012
- views: 1911638
HBO (Home Box Office) is an American premium cable television network, owned by Time Warner, under the operating subsidiary Home Box Office Inc. As of January 2012[update], HBO's programming reaches 29 million subscribers in the United States, making it the second largest premium network in the United States (Encore's programming reaches 33.2 million subscribers as of March 2012[update]). In addition to its U.S. subscriber base, HBO also broadcasts in at least 151 countries worldwide.
HBO's programming consists primarily of theatrically released motion pictures and original series, along with made-for-cable movies and documentaries, boxing matches, and occasional stand-up comedy and concert specials.
In 1965, Charles Dolan, who had already done pioneering work in the commercial use of cables, won a franchise to build a cable system in Lower Manhattan in New York. The new system, which Dolan called "Sterling Manhattan Cable", became the first urban underground cable system in the United States. Rather than stringing cable on telephone poles or using microwave antennas to receive the signals, Sterling laid underground cable beneath the streets of Manhattan — because the multitude of tall buildings blocked television signals. In the same year Time-Life, Inc. purchased 20 percent of Dolan's company.