Thursday 14 January 2016
Business background
HBO (Home Box Office), also known as Home Box Office inc., is the worlds most successful premium television company, which is a subsidiary of the American multinational media corporation Time Warner, the world’s third largest television networks and Film TV & entertainment company.
HBO is renowned as an award winning network, winning 19 Primetime Emmy® Awards 13 years in a row, the most any network has achieved, along with multiple Golden Globe awards. They are also home to award winning programmes such as the record breaking 13 time’s Primetime Emmy® Award winning series “Game of Thrones”, in addition to awards being won for television series such as: True Detective, The Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire, Deadwood, John Adams and True Blood.
As the world’s most successful pay TV service, HBO has approximately 127 million subscribers worldwide, with their programming being sold into over 150 countries, covering continents such as Europe, Asia, and also Latin America.
Accessible via cable & satellite television service, IPTV (internet protocol television), along with streaming media, HBO can be viewed across a variety of different media broadcasting platforms. In addition to linear broadcasting, not only can audiences access HBO from within the comfort of their homely environment, but now, with the convergent streaming media service such as HBOGO and HBONOW, audiences can also access HBO whilst they are travelling, no longer limiting and confining access to their favourite programmes to their homes.
As of November 2015, HBO has recently renewed their contract with Sky Atlantic, which exclusively broadcast HBO content throughout the UK and Ireland.
Sky Atlantic banks a significant amount of it’s viewership from US television programmes, with 40% of its programming coming from HBO inc. (HBO & Cinemax). However, Sky Atlantic also broadcasts shows from other competing US networks, such as Mad Men from AMC; Ray Donovan & The Affair from Showtime; Aquarius from NBC, and the widely acclaimed syndicated science fiction drama Star Trek. Through the use of Sky Atlantic, that gives HBO a further advantage point for advertisement to a new audience, allowing for the revenue generated from it’s television series to increase, but also to connect with a uniformed audience whom participate in social television, due to the simulcasting of their popular television series.
Why HBO is fitting for Gangsta
An award winning television network such as HBO, which is renowned for it’s highly produced programmes would be a fitting home for the adapted live action television series Gangsta, especially when you consider what programmes have came out of the channel which bares similar elements, for example the themes explored such as crime and corruption, which is displayed significantly throughout The Sopranos and The Wire, and also the nudity; sex and thriller violence action, which are key components of Game of Thrones and True Blood, plus the extravagant high concept period drama stage designs displayed throughout Boardwalk Empire.
Being a channel that publishes programmes for an audience of 18+, with it’s established content catering to a variety of various demographics either due to the stories plot, production team used such as directors, also castings of various actors given significant roles which symbolically represent something important; such as the cultural representation of feminism in Game of Thrones, this has allowed for HBO to be a platform that caters for all, attracting all types of audiences spanning a variety of genres to a premiering of a new series, on a Saturday night at 9pm.
Due to this being the case, this will hopefully propel Gangsta to a new audience outside of it’s intended demographic which is geared not towards age, but towards genres such as: action, serial drama, crime drama, thriller, psychological drama, Japanese yakuza, kung fu, martial arts and samurai cinema. Plus, to help target a wide demographic that of which HBO has access to, the casting for Gangsta is a mixture of different ethnicities, casting actors & actresses whom are: English, Spanish, American, Chinese, Italian, African, Mexican, Japanese and Indonesian.
Due to the big budget highly produced programmes, HBO has been known to take relatively unknown actors, and thruster them into the limelight, giving their careers a kick start; such as what has happened to actors & actresses starring in the hit series Game of Thrones, which has taken talent with not much screen experience and created them into an overnight hit sensation, giving them the opportunities to further their careers.
