50 Years Ago: HBO Launches in Just 365 Homes

[TMC]

https://ultimateclassicrock.com/hbo-launches/

There was once little that could compare with the strange magic of HBO. The network came into your house through the same television set as the others, but was totally different.

Movies played without commercials. Even when the films were R-rated, they were shown in their original form, with nothing edited out. HBO also broke ground by showing documentary films, comedy specials, steamy content, live concerts and prime-time fights between boxers – including "Marvelous" Marvin Hagler, Thomas "Hitman" Hearns and eventually Mike Tyson – who were becoming pop culture superstars.

Decades later, most viewers take the ability to watch these kinds of things on television for granted, but HBO pioneered it in American culture, beginning on Nov. 8, 1972.

The channel's roots actually go back to the '60s, when Charles Dolan was granted a permit to start a cable television network in New York City. (Dolan later became more famous for his position atop the Madison Square Garden Company, owner of the NBA's Knicks and the NHL's Rangers.) The original company was called Manhattan Cable, and was the first in the United States that used underground lines to transmit its signals. The network secured financial backing from the Time-Life corporation, and was soon broadcasting local news and tourist-oriented information into local televisions.

Watch One of the Earliest Promos for HBO



Unfortunately, an increasingly desperate Dolan was losing money every year. Then he came up with a new idea: a subscription-based national cable channel that would broadcast the kind of movies and sports events that Americans didn't have access to through ABC, NBC and CBS. Dolan originally launched this idea under the moniker the Green Channel, and then tried the Sterling Cable Network – named after his communications company, Sterling Information Services. He finally settled on Home Box Office, in order to put the idea in people's minds that paying for this service would bring the movie theater into their living rooms.

His huge idea had an inauspicious beginning: On the first night of HBO programming in November 1972, viewership consisted of just 365 homes in Wilkes-Barre, Penn., watching a broadcast that included a Rangers hockey game and a mostly forgotten Paul Newman movie called Sometimes a Great Notion.

Still, the idea caught on fast. By the end of 1975, some 1,395 people in Wilkes-Barre were subscribing; by 1975, HBO had 165,000 subscribers and was expanding into the new world of satellite transmission: Their broadcast of the "Thrilla in Manilla" fight between Muhammed Ali and Joe Frazier on Oct. 1, 1975 was the first event ever relayed to audiences via the new technology by an American network.

HBO continued to grow fast through the '70s, and was soon spawning competitors like the Movie Channel and Showtime. To keep ahead of them, HBO continued to innovate. The network broadcast its first comedy special (An Evening With Robert Klein) on Dec. 31, 1975, and its first concert special (The Fabulous Bette Midler Show) on June 19, 1976. By 1978, HBO was broadcasting nationwide and had in the vicinity of 2 million subscribers. Broadcasting was expanded to 24 hours a day in 1982, establishing a model soon followed by cable channels everywhere.

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[Hawkee]

When it began life in 1975 HBO was everybody's dream for anybody who wished to see movies 24 hours a day and so when HBO hit the airwaves in 1975 people finally got their wish and it marked a historic event in TV history as HBO became the first ever cable channel. As time went on HBO went on to be one of the successful cable movie networks and even competition from Pay-Per View couldn't stop HBO from being a hit. In the 80's when Cinemax and The Movie Channel were launched HBO knew they would work their magic again and when Showtime was launched it was another competitor for HBO. But even with an all movie format HBO was still hoping to attract their audience more. So they began showing boxing matches to attract boxing fans and developing their own sitcoms and original dramas which is why sitcoms like Dream On and dramas like The Sorpanos and Oz and Big Love were strong hits for HBO. And they appealed to a young audience by adding exclusive music concerts by artists such as Cher to the lineup and that helped a lot. But they also wanted to appeal to kids and families which is why they created HBO For Kids later renamed HBO Family where they had cartoons and original kids shows such as Dear America that was based on the Scholastic book series of the same name and it worked well. But when I would see HBO today I think they moved back to the retro format because when I would watch it they would show movies like Ruthless People and Planes Trains and Automobiles from 1986 and 1987 and I wished HBO would focus on new and hot releases rather than retro movies. But I think with the HBO Max streaming app being huge in TV HBO shows no sign of going broke and will stay for good
Bestie

[AMackII]

Happy 50th HBO

[Yong Fang]

HBO...Where one can use obscene words freely and be naked alone and with other people.