HBO Europe
| HBO Europe | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Launched | September 28, 1991 |
| Owned by | Time Warner/Home Box Office |
| Slogan | It's not TV, it's HBO! (in various languages) |
| Broadcast area | Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Slovakia |
| Headquarters | Budapest, Hungary |
| Website | hbo-europe.com |
HBO Europe is a premium pay television service operating in eleven countries in Europe: Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Moldova, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and the Netherlands.[1] The headquarters are located in Budapest, Hungary. It is fully owned by Time Warner through Home Box Office Inc.. Buena Vista International Television and Sony Pictures Television International exited the HBO premium joint venture on January 28, 2010.[2]
The first service launched by HBO in Europe was HBO Hungary, which launched on September 28, 1991.[3] This was followed by the launch of HBO Czech in 1994, HBO Poland in 1996, a launch in Slovakia in 1997, HBO Romania in 1998, launch of HBO Romania in Moldova in 1999, HBO Bulgaria in 2002, HBO Adria in Croatia and Slovenia in 2004[4] HBO Serbia in Serbia and Montenegro in 2006[5] and HBO Macedonia in Macedonia in 2009.
HBO Europe has the following channel brands:
- HBO is available in all twelve countries.
- HBO 2 is available in Netherlands, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary.
- HBO 3 is available in Netherlands with a focus on Action and Thriller
- HBO Comedy was launched in January 2007.[6] It is available in all eleven countries.
- HBO On Demand was launched in March 2007.[7] It is a video-on-demand service, available in Poland, the Czech Republic, Macedonia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Croatia and Romania.
- HBO HD was launched in 2008. It is available in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania.
- Cinemax was launched in 2005.[8] It is available in all eleven countries.
- Cinemax 2 is available in countries where Cinemax is available.
- Cinemax HD was launched in Poland, Slovenia and Croatia and will become available in the Czech Republic during 2013.
- HBO 2 HD was launched in Poland in 2011 and will become available in the Czech Republic during 2012.
- HBO Comedy HD was launched in Poland in 2011, also available in Croatia, Slovenia and Czech Republic.
- Cinemax 2 HD was launched in Poland in 2011, also available in Croatia and Slovenia
Carriage disputes
On January 11, 2011, Digi TV, RCS&RDS DTH platform dropped transmission of HBO's channels in the Czech Republic, and two days later in Croatia. This decision was made due to: "Unacceptable financial demands of the licensor, which would harm our company and especially you, our customers, through an unacceptable increase in retail prices."[9] stated in a RCS&RDS press release.
References
- ↑ HBO Europe website
- ↑ "Home Box Office gains ownership of HBO Europe" (Press release). Time Warner. January 28, 2010.
- ↑ "HBO Europe - History section".
- ↑ "HBO launch in Slovenia and Croatia" (Press release). HBO Central Europe. September 7, 2004.
- ↑ "HBO Europe - Montenegro History".
- ↑ "HBO COMEDY IS COMING to HBO in Central Europe" (Press release). HBO Central Europe. January 27, 2007.
- ↑ "HBO ON-DEMAND IS COMING TO CENTRAL EUROPE" (Press release). HBO Central Europe. February 23, 2007.
- ↑ "HBO is Launching a New Movie Channel on the 23rd of February" (Press release). Time Warner. February 15, 2005.
- ↑ Digi drops HBO channels Broadband TV News January 10, 2011