About Us
1992
- HBO Asia, backed by Paramount and Warner Bros, launches an 18-hour-a-day home movie channel in Asia, securing carriage on SCV in Singapore.
- The English-language service is distributed via Palapa B2P.
- On June 1, HBO Asia successfully completes its first movie transmission from Singapore with title, Heaven Help Us.
- On September 21, HBO Asia successfully completes its first movie transmission from its regional headquarters at New Tech Park, Singapore with title, Cross Current.
1993
- HBO Asia's regional headquarters is officially opened at New Tech Park by Singapore's Minister for Information and the Arts, Brigadier-General George Yeo.
- HBO Asia, TVB, ESPN, Turner and ABC announce a broadcasters' alliance.
- HBO becomes available in Thailand and the Philippines.
1994
- HBO launches in Taiwan.
- After 20 months on air, HBO shifts to a fully programmed 24-hour service.
- In a landmark deal, HBO Asia concludes exclusive licensing deals with Sony Pictures Entertainment and Universal Studios, who also become equity partners. The four HBO Asia partner studios jointly claim 19 of the top 25 films released in the United States during 1993 and 1994.
- HBO becomes available in Indonesia.
1995
- HBO adds Bahasa Indonesia subtitles to its full broadcast schedules in addition to closed-captioned subtitles for Thailand and Taiwan that were made available in 1994.
- HBO becomes available in Hong Kong and Malaysia and launches in three-star and above standard hotels and foreign housing compounds in China.
1996
- Disney subsidiaries, Hollywood Pictures and Touchstone become exclusive HBO Asia suppliers.
- With its lead movie channel in a strong position, HBO Asia launches CINEMAX, a channel for a wide range of entertaining movies. Agreements are soon signed with operators in Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and the Philippines.
1997
- Dan Murrell becomes HBO Asia's Managing Director, replacing CEO and President Bill Hooks who returns to HBO in New York after five years at the helm.
- HBO Asia celebrates its fifth anniversary.
- HBO expands to 18 Asian territories.
1998
- HBO Asia is granted Ministry of Radio, Film and Television approval to distribute its CINEMAX channel in China to three-star and above standard hotels and foreign housing compounds.
- In January, HBO Asia commences distribution of HBO and CINEMAX to hotels in Vietnam.
- CINEMAX launches on ASTRO in Malaysia.
- HBO Asia signs an exclusive deal with DreamWorks SKG.
- HBO and CINEMAX launch in Sri Lanka.
1999
- HBO Asia opens a representative office in Taiwan.
- Dan Murrell is appointed CEO and President of HBO Asia.
2000
- CINEMAX launches in Hong Kong as a premium service, alongside HBO.
- An HBO South Asia service is launched in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Maldives. The HBO channel in India and Maldives is ad-supported.
- James Marturano is appointed Executive Vice President of HBO Asia and HBO South Asia's Managing Director.
2001
- HBO premieres one of the most expensive HBO Original Productions ever, Band of Brothers, across Asia. Based on the best-selling novel by the late-historian Stephen Ambrose, Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg were executive producers for the ten-part World War II miniseries.
- For the second year in a row, HBO sweeps top honours in a trade survey reinforcing HBO as cable operators' top choice for programming, sales and marketing, on-air look, viewer feedback, value for money and most popular channel.
2002
- HBO Asia celebrates ten years of entertaining Asia.
- HBO Asia launches Asia's first fully 'tapeless' system, one that fully digitalises and archives its extensive library of movies and promotional on-air materials.
2003
- In March, CINEMAX relaunches to be Asia's most exciting movie channel for hits, action and suspense movies, complete with new tagline of 'Get Into The Movies' and a brand-new on-air identity.
- The HBO channel receives the prestigious Superbrands® Award in Singapore.
- HBO is voted as Asia's best cable and movie channel by cable operators across the region.
2004
- Jonathan Spink becomes HBO Asia's Chief Executive Officer, replacing CEO and President, Dan Murrell after six years at the helm.
- HBO Asia adds Cambodia to its territories.
2005
- In January, HBO Asia is the first programmer to have a five hour block programming on China Central Television (CCTV) paid digital channel.
- As part of its multi-channel strategy, HBO Asia launches HBO SIGNATURE in April 2005. This is the first additional HBO channel that is offered to subscribers in premium markets as a cluster of multi-channel services.
- In August, HBO Asia signs an exclusive deal with PCCW's nowTV in Hong Kong.
- In September, HBO launches in residential homes in Vietnam through Q.Net, which distributes to local operators, including HTVC (Ho Chi Minh Cable), VTC, VCTV, SCTV and K+.
- HBO premieres one of the most expensive series in television history, the HBO Original Series Rome that was produced at US$100 million.
2006
- In March, HBO Asia increases the number of channels under its multi-channel bouquet with the launch of HBO FAMILY and HBO HITS, which are distributed first through nowTV in Hong Kong.
- In April, HBO SIGNATURE, HBO FAMILY and HBO HITS launch in the Philippines as part of THE HBO/MAX PAK through SkyCable.
- In May, HBO SIGNATURE, HBO FAMILY and HBO HITS launch for the first time in Taiwan.
- In July, HBO SIGNATURE, HBO FAMILY and HBO HITS launch in Singapore as part of THE HBO PAK through StarHub Cable Vision.
2007
- In February, HBO Asia launches HBO ON DEMAND, the first Hollywood subscription movie on demand service in Asia and the company's first Subscription Video On Demand (SVOD) service, to THE HBO MAX PAK PREMIUM subscribers on nowTV in Hong Kong.
- In July, HBO SIGNATURE, HBO FAMILY and HITS launch for the first time in Thailand as part of the HBO Package through TrueVisions and also in Sri Lanka on Dialog TV and Lanka Broadband Networks.
- HBO Asia celebrates its 15th anniversary.
2008
- In January, HBO takes majority stake in HBO Asia. Previously jointly held by HBO, NBC Universal, Paramount Films and Sony Pictures Entertainment, HBO Asia under the new equity structure is owned by HBO and Paramount.
- HBO continues to lead in Asia as the top-ranked channel with the best programming quality, on-air promotions, as well as sales and marketing support, as voted by pay TV operators across the region according to the 2008 Asia Pacific Pay TV survey by Fusion Consulting.
- In September, HBO ON DEMAND is made available to subscribers of THE HBO PAK in Singapore through StarHub Cable Vision.
2009
- On March 29, CINEMAX refreshes as a channel dedicated to action, suspense and science-fiction programmes targeted at men.
- From April 1, Chinese subtitling is offered in addition to Bahasa Malaysia for HBO subscribers in Malaysia. HBO is the first movie channel to offer dual subtitling in Malaysia.
- In April, HBO is offered on the newly launched direct-to-home (DTH) pay TV operator in the Philippines, Cignal DTV.Philippines.
- In May, Papua New Guinea's HiTron Pty Ltd and Cambodia's Royal Group add three of HBO Asia's multiplex channels, HBO SIGNATURE, HBO FAMILY and HBO HITS, to their existing HBO channel offerings.
- In June, all five of HBO Asia's multiplex channels launch on Mongolia's DDish TV while in Indonesia, Indovision adds HBO HITS and HBO FAMILY to their existing three HBO Asia channel offerings
- In July, three of HBO Asia's multiplex channels, HBO SIGNATURE, HBO FAMILY and HBO HITS are added to Palau National Communications Corporation (PNCC)'s existing channel offerings of HBO and CINEMAX, in Palau.
- HBO retains overall lead for the third year running in the 2009 Pay TV Operators Survey conducted by Fusion Consulting and ContentAsia. HBO tops the movies genre, overall marketing and sales support, positive feedback from subscribers and best value for money categories.
- HBO is the first regional movie channel to broadcast in high definition in Asia in October. HBO HD launches on nowTV in Hong Kong, StarHub in Singapore, Cignal in the Philippines, and on kbro in Taiwan.
- In October, the television premiere of Kung Fu Panda is available for the first time in dual language audio options in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.
- In November, HBO Asia becomes the exclusive distributing agent for Warner TV and BabyFirst in the Asia-Pacific region.
- In December, HBO HD launches on Astro in Malaysia.
2010
- In April, The Pacific, the highly-anticipated companion piece produced by the award-winning team behind the Emmy® winning HBO Original mini-series, Band of Brothers, premieres on HBO less than three weeks after the US premiere.
- HBO HD launches in Thailand on True Visions in May and in Indonesia on First Media in August. First Media adds RED to their channel offerings in August.
- HBO retains overall lead for the fourth year running in the 2010 Pay TV Operators Survey conducted by Global Intelligence Alliance (the former Fusion Consulting) and ContentAsia. HBO tops in terms of programming quality, the movies genre and best value for money categories.
- In September, WarnerTV launches in Taiwan on DishHD.
- In October, RED, WarnerTV and BabyFirst launch on Telekom Malaysia (TM).
- RED is distributed across various parts of The Philippines with Cable Boss.
- HBO's Action Nation blockbuster line-up is the most watched English movies in the Philippines, according to Kantar Media Philippines*. Titles include Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen, G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra and 2012.
- HBO Asia wins two Gold (Best Logo Design for RED and Best Collateral for The Pacific) and two Silver awards (Best Print for Chick Flicks campaign and Something For Nothing for CINEMAX War Movies stunt) at the PromaxBDA Asia 2010 Awards.
- In December, HBO HD launches in Sri Lanka.
2011
- HBO is the Number 1 channel in Singapore and the Philippines during primetime throughout 2010, according to Kantar Media.
- In January, HBO HD launches in Vietnam.
- In June, HBO Asia doubles its high-definition channel offering with the launch of HBO HITS HD in Indonesia on First Media.
- In the same month, RED is also launched on Destiny Cable in the Philippines.
- In addition, HBO becomes the No.1 channel for English movies in Malaysia, Taiwan, the Philippines and Singapore according to year-to-date analysis whose target audience was all cable adults from 1 Jan to 20 June 2011 from Kantar Media for the Philippines and Singapore, and AGB Nielsen for Malaysia and Taiwan.
- In July, HBO HITS HD is also available in Singapore on StarHub and in Taiwan on several cable and satellite operators.
- In the same month, HBO offers dual language audio options for selected titles in Malaysia.
- During the same month, HBO Asia wins two bronze awards at the 2011 PROMAX BDA NEW YORK for Screen Red - Logo Design: Network/Channel All Media and HBO Summer Blockbusters - Topical Publication Advertising Campaign - Color.
- In August, HBO ON DEMAND launches in Vietnam.
2012
- HBO Asia celebrates 20 years of entertaining Asia.
- HBO Asia strengthens content for 2012 with more than 140 hours of original programming, a 40% increase in original series compared to 2011.
- HBO Asia jointly develops Dead Mine, the first original co-production with Infinite Frameworks.
- In May, HBO Asia migrates all HBO services on satellite Apstar 2R (also known as Telstar 10) to Apstar 7.
- In June, HBO Original movie Hemingway & Gellhorn premieres on HBO just days after its US premiere.
- On September 5, Kbro/TFN group launches HBO ON DEMAND for the first time in Taiwan.
- To celebrate Hari Raya Aidil Fitri in Malaysia, HBO Asia collaborates with Astro in August to record and present the movie, The Smurfs, in Bahasa Malaysia for the first time; featuring the voices of prominent Malaysian celebrities.
- In September, CINEMAX gets a refresh while HBO FAMILY launches a new on-air look on October 1.
- Also in September, HBO Asia announces a collaboration with Australia's ABC TV on a first drama series co-production, Serangoon Road, a ten episode hour-long fast-paced detective drama series set against the exotic, tumultuous backdrop of 1960s Singapore.
- In October, HBO offers dual language audio options for selected titles in Vietnam.
- In November, HBO Asia announces the launch of HBO GO, a brand new Internet streaming service that allows subscribers to watch HBO Original programmes 12 hours after the US across multiple devices including laptops, tablets and smartphones.
- Also in November, HBO Asia launches two new high definition channels – HBO FAMILY HD and HBO SIGNATURE HD, doubling its HD channel offerings to four.
- In December, HBO Asia and Eros International Plc jointly announce the launch of two new premium advertising-free movie channels, HBO DEFINED and HBO HITS, in India.
- HBO Asia wins a gold for Best Collateral at the 2012 Promax Design Awards.
2013
- HBO Asia and nowTV officially launch HBO GO in Hong Kong on February 28 for HBO Super Pak subscribers.
- In February, following the collaboration between HBO Asia and Eros International Plc, premium advertising-free channels, HBO DEFINED and HBO HITS, launch in India on Dish TV and Airtel Digital.
- In May, HBO SIGNATURE, HBO HITS and HBO FAMILY launch in Malaysia on the Astro B.yond IPTV platform.
- HBO Asia wins gold and silver awards at the 2013 PromaxBDA Promotion, Marketing and Design Global Excellence Awards held in Los Angeles on 20 June.
- In August, HBO Asia records and presents the movie, Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted, with a Bahasa Indonesia / Bahasa Malaysia audio option for the first time in Indonesia and Singapore, with regional celebrities lending their voices to the characters.
- HBO Asia's first prime-time drama series Serangoon Road premieres on 22 September. A co-production with Australia's ABC TV, this ten episode hour-long fast-paced detective drama series set against the exotic, tumultuous backdrop of 1960s Singapore and stars Hollywood's Joan Chen, Australia's Don Hany, Hollywood-based Singaporean, Chin Han, Indonesian Ario Bayu, Singaporeans Alaric Tay and Pamelyn Chee, and many more.
- In October, HBO Asia's distribution increases to 23 territories with HBO/HBO HD and CINEMAX launching in Myanmar. RED launches in Thailand and Myanmar.
- In the same month, CINEMAX and RED launch in high definition; all of HBO Asia's channels are now available in high definition.
- From November, new HBO Originals premiere in Asia within one week of their debut in the United States.
- In December, HBO DEFINED and HBO HITS launch on India's leading DTH platform, TataSky, increasing the channels' distribution across 11 leading DTH and digital cable platforms in India.
- RED launches in Vietnam on HTV-TMS.
2014
- HBO GO launches in the Philippines in March, exclusively with SkyCable.
- In July, HBO Asia premieres HBO and Cinemax Original scripted content less than a day after the United States, starting with The Knick.
- HBO Asia engages in the largest audience outreach to date in August, offering a free preview of its content for the very first time via streaming on its website and YouTube channel, as well as nowTV's Video Express First platform starting with the full pilot episode of The Knick.
- HBO Asia's four-part horror miniseries, Grace, premieres in October. Starring Russell Wong, Grace is the first production wholly conceived and developed in-house by HBO Asia.
- In December, HBO Asia wins exclusive distribution rights as the only regional network with the rights to broadcast the Oscars® live.
2015
- HBO Asia, the new home of the Oscars® in the region, brings a complete Oscars® experience across multiple screens to complement HBO's live on-air broadcast of The 87th Annual Academy Awards®, with exclusive direct-from-Hollywood red carpet pictures and interviews, and backstage interviews on HBO Asia's website and social media platforms.
- In April, HBO Asia announces the live simulcast of its Original content, starting with season five of Game of Thrones premiering in Asia same time as the United States.
- July 1: DreamWorks Channel officially launches. HBO Asia is the official distributor of the DreamWorks Channel in Asia, available in Thailand via CTH (July) and Malaysia via TM's HyppTV (September).
- HBO GO launches as a standalone over-the-top streaming service without a pay TV subscription in Hong Kong via nowTV (April) and in Singapore via StarHub Go (August).
- On October 1, SCREEN RED is rebranded as RED BY HBO, bringing to viewers a new vibrant look and internationally acclaimed content from Southeast Asia, in addition to those from Japan, Korea and Greater China.
2016
- In December, HBO Asia premiered the first two installments of their first original anthology of martial arts Chinese action TV movies, MASTER OF THE DRUNKEN FIST: BEGGAR SO and MASTER OF THE SHADOWLESS KICK: WONG KEI-YING. Both movies were co-produced with China Movie Channel (CMC).
2017
- HBO Asia celebrates its 25th Anniversary.
- In January, HBO Asia premiered their first returnable original series, HALFWORLDS Season 2, that was set in Thailand. An ensemble cast of actors from Thailand, Indonesia, The Philippines and Taiwan starred.
- In March, HBO Asia entered into an exclusive partnership with Advance Info Service (AIS) in Thailand to offer HBO’s bouquet of six 24-hour, commercial-free premium movie channels via the internet and on mobile devices through the AIS PLAYBOX and AIS PLAY mobile app.
- April saw the premiere of HBO Asia’s first Chinese language series, THE TEENAGE PSYCHIC, set in Taiwan. The series also received breakthrough premiere ratings and also won the coveted Best Mini-Series (TV Movie) award and Best Supporting Actress in a Mini-Series (TV Movie) at the Golden Bell Awards 2017 in Taiwan.
- HBO Asia announced in May that the latest season of the award-winning and critically acclaimed HBO Original series, GAME OF THRONES, will be dubbed into Thai, voiced by local celebrities. This was the first time an HBO Original production was dubbed in local language by local celebrities in Asia.
- In May, BabyFirst, and its sole distributor in Asia, HBO Asia, announced the signing of an exclusive multi-year deal for the top baby and toddler network’s content to be available on iQIYI Kids, a new children’s video on demand service developed by iQIYI, China’s largest video streaming platform. iQIYI Kids will be available in high-definition and dual language options: Mandarin or English audio with Chinese subtitles.
- In June, CINEMAX in Vietnam was replaced by MAX by HBO, making it the only advertising-driven channel owned by HBO Asia.
- In September, HBO Asia premiered their first comedy drama series, SENT, that was set in Singapore. The series was produced in partnership with the Info-communications Media Development Authority (IMDA) as part of a two-year collaboration to develop the drama production capabilities of Singapore’s media industry and talent.
- In November, HBO Asia premiered their first original documentary, THE TALWARS: BEHIND CLOSED DOORS, that examines India’s biggest murder mystery. The documentary was produced in association with Star India.
