Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium cable and satellite television network that is owned by the namesake unit Home Box Office, Inc., a division of AT&T's Warner Media. The program which featured on the network consists primarily of theatrically released motion pictures and original television shows, along with made-for-cable movies, documentaries and occasional comedy and concert specials.
HBO is the oldest and longest continuously operating pay television service (basic or premium) in the United States, having been in operation since November 8, 1972. In 2016, HBO had an adjusted operating income of US$1.93 billion, compared to the US$1.88 billion it accrued in 2015. HBO has 130 million subscribers worldwide as of 2016. The network provides seven 24-hour multiplex channels including HBO Comedy, HBO Latino, HBO Signature, and HBO Family.
It launched the streaming service HBO now in April 2015 and has over 2 million subscribers in the US as of February 2017. HBO subscribers generally pay for an extra tier of service that includes other cable and satellite-exclusive channels even before paying for the channel itself (though HBO often prices all of its channels together in a single package). However, a law imposed by the Federal Communications Commissions (FCC) requires that cable providers allow subscribers to get just "limited" basic cable (a base programming tier that includes local, and in some areas, out-of-market broadcast stations and public, educational, and government access channels) and premium services such as HBO, without subscribing to expanded service.
Comcast is the only major provider to have purposefully offered the network in such a manner utilizing this law, as it offered a bundled cable/Internet package that included limited basic service and HBO from October 2013 to July 2014, or January of the latter year in some markets. Cable providers can require the use of a converter box - usually digital - in order to receive HBO.
