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Tag: True Detective

  • Star India & HBO ink programming deal to screen original content

    Star India & HBO ink programming deal to screen original content

    MUMBAI: Star India and HBO have inked an exclusive programming agreement that will bring HBO original content to a wider audience via Star’s English channels as well as its digital platform Hotstar.

     

    Star India will now air HBO original programming including Game of Thrones and True Detective.

     

    Star India CEO Uday Shankar said, “Star is delighted to partner with HBO to bring world class HBO original programming for Indian viewers. Star will become the exclusive destination for screening HBO content in India – once again resetting the benchmark for quality and depth of content offering for its viewers. Fans will be able to watch their favourite HBO Original programs on Hotstar on the same day as the telecast in the United States. Viewers will also be able to see the HBO Original programming on Star’s English channels.”

     

    “Hotstar, is a leading destination for our growing family of content viewers.We have constantly aspired to offer high quality content across genres and languages, and HBO Originals with its outstanding program bouquet, I am sure will be yet another quantum leap in delighting and enthralling our viewers,” Shankar added.

     

    HBO Asia CEO Jonathan Spink said, “HBO is delighted to enter this new chapter in India with Star. Through the first release of our shows on Hotstar, Indian audiences will now have unprecedented flexibility in how they consume HBO’s much loved premium programming.”

     

    Apart from Game of Thrones and True Detective, other forthcoming series of HBO Originals include Silicon Valley, Veep, and Leftovers as well as new HBO Original series in the forthcoming season, which will include the Scorsese series Vinyl scheduled to air on 14 February and West World. In addition, library favourites such as Entourage, Band of Brothers, The Sopranos and Curb Your Enthusiasm will also be available.

  • HBO partners Apple to launch standalone streaming service

    HBO partners Apple to launch standalone streaming service

    MUMBAI: Home Box Office will launch its standalone premium streaming service called HBO Now in April, bringing the new product to audiences in time for the fifth season of Game of Thrones. HBO has joined hands with Apple, wherein for the first time an HBO subscription will be made available directly to Apple customers through HBO Now.

     

    HBO Now provides instant access to HBO’s programming. Watch every episode of every season of the best series programming, more of the biggest and latest Hollywood hit movies, original HBO Films, groundbreaking documentaries, sports, and comedy and music specials.

     

    Apple will give viewers the ability to enjoy HBO programming via HBO Now. Upon launch, customers can subscribe using the HBO Now app on their iPhone, iPad or iPod touch or directly on Apple TV for instant access. Users can purchase HBO Now directly in-app for $14.99 a month. Upon registering, subscribers will also be able to watch at HBONow.com. HBO will offer a 30 day introductory free trial period to new HBO Now customers who sign up through Apple in April.

     

    HBO continues to be in discussions with its existing network of distributors and new digital partners to offer HBO Now. At launch, HBO Now will be available on iOS devices and on PCs.

     

    “HBO Now is the next phase of innovation at HBO. With this new partnership, a natural evolution for the network, we have access to millions of Apple customers who are used to getting their favorite apps immediately. Now, they can do the same with an HBO subscription,” said HBO chairman and CEO Richard Plepler.

     

    “HBO Now offers a new generation of HBO fans many of the best TV programs in the world without a cable or satellite subscription. Now, with the same simplicity as buying an app, customers can subscribe to HBO Now and instantly start viewing their favorite HBO programs as they air—this is huge,” added Apple senior vice president of Internet software and services Eddy Cue.

     

    Similar to HBO Go, HBO Now will offer more than 2,000 titles online. This includes series like Game of Thrones, True Detective, Silicon Valley, Girls, Veep andThe Leftovers, as well as classics like The Sopranos, Sex and the City, True Blood, The Wire and Deadwood. 

     

    Upcoming original programs like Westworld, the drama series starring Anthony Hopkins, Ed Harris and Evan Rachel Wood; The Brink, the dark comedy series starring Jack Black and Tim Robbins; the new season of the Emmy-winning True Detective, with Vince Vaughn, Colin Farrell and Rachel McAdams; and HBO Films’ Bessie, starring Queen Latifah, will become available on HBO Now as they air on HBO.

     

    In addition, HBO Now will showcase Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, named “best of 2014” on many critics’ lists; Vice, the Emmy-winning, cutting-edge news magazine series hosted by Shane Smith; HBO Sports documentaries, series and World Championship Boxing events; and documentary programming like Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst and the Oscar winning, Citizenfour.

  • Sky and HBO extend content partnership deal

    Sky and HBO extend content partnership deal

    MUMBAI: The Home of Box Office certainly wants to live up to its name. In a recent development Sky and HBO have extended their original drama commitment and output deal to at least 2020.

     

    Under the new agreement, BSkyB and HBO will work together to develop and produce new drama series for broadcast on their networks in the UK, Ireland and US. Their goal will be to identify projects with the potential to run for multiple seasons and to commission these shows, with production to be jointly funded by the two companies.

     

    The collaboration includes an extended content output deal to ensure that Sky Atlantic remains the exclusive home of first-run HBO programmes in Britain and Ireland through 2020.

     

    The co-production agreement builds on the partnership that Sky and HBO have enjoyed since 2010. With the extended output deal, new HBO programmes – including True Detective and Looking – will continue to premiere exclusively on Sky Atlantic along with the return of award-winning shows such as Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire and Girls.

     

    Sky Atlantic has become one of the strongest channel brands in British television in just three years since its launch and is currently rated among one of the top three must-have pay TV networks according to Sky customers.

  • ‘True Detective’ gets off to a great start

    ‘True Detective’ gets off to a great start

    MUMBAI: Early buzz suggests that HBO’s brand new original series True Detective, which premiered in India on HBO Defined on 19 January, may well turn out a winner.

     

    With all eight episodes penned by novelist Nic Pizzolatto and directed by Cary Fukunaga, the opening season of the crime drama examines a grisly Louisiana crime through the eyes of the detectives who handled the case.

     

    Matthew McConaughey – who just won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Male Actor in a Leading Role for his turn in the Oscar-nominated Dallas Buyers Club – and Woody Harrelson play detectives Rustin ‘Rust’ Cohle and Martin Hart, respectively, as they recall the gruesome murder of former prostitute Dora Kelly Lange, whose body is found with a symbol painted on the back and a ‘crown’ of deer antlers on the head. With the narrative yo-yoing between the 90s when the crime actually took place and present-day, flashback is extensively used.

     

    Speaking to indiantelevision.com about the new series, HBO India managing director Monica Tata said that all HBO originals – series and movies made for HBO by HBO – were classified as premium content and were aired only on HBO Premium channels, that is HBO Hits and HBO Defined, without being punctuated by advertisements or breaks.

     

    “HBO Originals are path-breaking content made for HBO by HBO, which is what makes them premium. Watch these award winning dramas, with stellar performances from the biggest names in Hollywood, 100 per cent ad-free, only on the HBO Premium Channels,” informed Tata. “Apart from being ad-free and break-free on HBO premium channels, HBO originals are available within a week of the US premiere, which sets them apart from competition on other English GECs. As True Detective will be airing on the HBO Premium channels, no ads or breaks will be seen during the show. Each episode is close to 60 minutes in length, which TV lovers can watch on HBO Defined 100% ad-free and break free.”

     

    Asked if the series is suitable for prime time viewing, Tata replied: “HBO is known for its award-winning and critically acclaimed HBO original series and movies that air at prime time on HBO Premium channels, within a week of the US premiere. HBO originals are a key driver of our programming strategy for our premium channels and give consumers 100% ad-free entertainment.”

     

    So how many seasons of True Detective do they plan to air? “The only TV series that HBO airs on its channels are HBO and Cinemax originals. Our content rights are for all commissioned seasons. As and when new seasons are added, rights for the same are acquired for the region,” she said.

     

    Given the dark nature of the series, were there a lot of cuts? “All content that airs on our linear channels in India is edited to meet the expectations and requirements of the Indian market. Our content team takes great care to edit content in ways such that we can align these expectations without compromising on the viewing experience. Our target audience is in the age group of 15-44,” she responded.

     

    What was the marketing strategy? “Our overall marketing message is focused on promoting HBO originals as cornerstones of the HBO experience. For the same, we have adopted a 360-degree approach that communicates with prospective subscribers of HBO premium channels from all directions and across long periods of time,” informed Tata.

     

    So will audiences see more such gripping and compelling dramas now that True Detective is already on air? “HBO premium channels air a wide range of HBO original content. Starting with True Detective, viewers will get to see Hollywood’s biggest names in TV series and movies made by HBO for HBO. HBO originals have been a key part of the programming strategy for HBO premium channels since their launch in 2013. New seasons and series’ premieres for 2014 begin airing mid-January onwards. In 2014, not only will HBO Premium Pack subscribers get to watch the latest HBO original series such as True Detective, the year will also be filled with new seasons of existing popular HBO original shows such as Game of Thrones, The Newsroom, Boardwalk Empire, and many more,” Tata answered.

     

    She emphasised that since HBO premium channels are completely ad-free and break-free there is no sponsorship or on-air advertising. They are available for subscription on all major DTH and cable platforms across India, with a reach of approximately 30 million homes. The primary viewership, like other English movie channels, comes from metro audiences. The rights to broadcast all HBO original content rest with HBO Asia.