HBO Asia
HBO Asia is the Asian division of HBO, based out of Singapore. It was originally launched on 1 May 1992 as MovieVision, later rebranding on 1 June 1995 to its current name after being purchased by Home Box Office, Inc. The Singapore-based broadcast network offers channels and services with no advertisements– HBO, HBO Signature, HBO Family, HBO Hits and Cinemax – as well as HBO Go and HBO on Demand. HBO Asia is also the exclusive distributor of BabyFirst in Asia.[4]
| Country | Singapore |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | |
| Network | HBO |
| Headquarters | 151 Lorong Chuan, New Technology Park 04-05, Serangoon Gardens, Singapore |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | English Chinese Japanese Malay Filipino Indonesian Thai Vietnamese |
| Picture format | 1080i HDTV (downscaled to 16:9 anamorphic widescreen or letterboxed 480i/576i for the SDTV feed) (2009- (HD), 25.05.2019- (SD)) 576i SDTV (4:3) (01.05.1992-24.05.2019) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | HBO Asia Pte Ltd (Warner Bros. Discovery International) |
| History | |
| Launched | 1 May 1992[3] |
| Replaced | Red by HBO (SatLite Only, Philippines) |
| Former names | MovieVision (1992–1995) |
| Links | |
| Website | (Archive) |
Programming
HBO Asia has licensing deals with 5 major Hollywood conglomerate film studios:
- Warner Bros. Discovery (Warner Bros. Pictures; New Line Cinema, HBO Films, Castle Rock Entertainment; Warner Independent Pictures)
- Paramount Global: (Paramount Pictures, Paramount Vantage).
- Universal Pictures (NBCUniversal)
- Sony Pictures
- Independent Film Productions, such as Lionsgate Films, Regency Enterprises, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, A24, etc.
- HBO Central is a monthly program giving information about which movies and series will be shown in the coming month.
- New seasons of HBO's Original Series or Original Productions air on Sunday nights/Monday mornings.
Original Programming
HBO also aired their Original Series or Original Films from Asian creators which aired on Sunday nights. Some other Asian original title may also simultaneously release in other platform, for example Catchplay, which has co-produce some HBO Asian titles.
This television-related list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (October 2021) |
TV series
Drama
| Title | Genre | Premiere | Seasons | Runtime | Language(s) | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grace[5] | Horror drama | October 17, 2014 | 4 episodes | Unknown |
| Miniseries |
| Halfworlds | Dark fantasy thriller | November 29, 2015 | 2 seasons, 16 episodes | Unknown |
| Renewed[6] |
| Folklore | Horror anthology | October 7, 2018 | 2 seasons, 12 episodes | 60 min | various languages | Ended |
| Grisse[7] | Epic Western | March 6, 2019 | 1 season, 8 episodes | Unknown |
| Ended |
| Food Lore[8] | Slice of life anthology | November 3, 2019 | 1 season, 8 episodes | Unknown | Various languages | Ended |
| Invisible Stories[9] | Psychological drama/Anthology | January 5, 2020 | 1 season, 6 episodes | Unknown |
| Ended |
| Dream Raider[10] | Science fiction mystery drama | August 16, 2020 | 1 season, 8 episodes | Unknown |
| Ended |
| Miss S[a] | Period action drama | October 5, 2020 | 30 episodes | Unknown | Mandarin | Miniseries |
| On The Job | Action thriller | September 13, 2021 | 6 episodes | 45-63 min | Filipino | Miniseries |
| Who's By Your Side[11] | Family thriller | October 3, 2021 | 10 episodes | 50 min |
| Ended |
Comedy
| Title | Genre | Premiere | Seasons | Runtime | Language(s) | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sent[12] | Comedy drama | September 17, 2017 | 1 season, 8 episodes | Unknown | English | Ended |
| Adventure of the Ring[13] | Romantic comedy-drama | December 13, 2020 | 8 episodes | Unknown | Mandarin | Miniseries |
Unscripted
| Title | Genre | Premiere | Seasons | Runtime | Language(s) | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traffickers: Inside the Golden Triangle[14] | True crime docuseries | July 23, 2021 | 3 episodes | Unknown | English | Ended |
Co-productions
These shows have been commissioned by HBO Asia with a partner network.
| Title | Genre | Partner/Country | Premiere | Seasons | Runtime | Language | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Serangoon Road | Period drama | ABC/Australia | September 22, 2013 | 1 season, 10 episodes | 55 min | English | Ended |
| The Teenage Psychic | Supernatural coming-of-age drama | PTS/Taiwan | April 2, 2017 | 2 seasons, 14 episodes | 50 min |
| Ended |
| The Talwars: Behind Closed Doors | True crime docuseries | Star World/India | November 26, 2017 | 4 episodes | Unknown | English | Miniseries |
| Miss Sherlock | Crime drama | Hulu Japan/Japan | April 27, 2018 | 1 season, 8 episodes | 45-50 min | Japanese | Ended |
| The Bridge | Crime drama | Viu/Malaysia | November 26, 2018 | 2 seasons, 20 episodes | 60 min |
| Ended |
| The World Between Us | Psychological drama | PTS and Catchplay/Taiwan | March 24, 2019 | 10 episodes | 50 min | Mandarin | Miniseries |
| Workers[15] | Dark comedy-drama | myVideo/Taiwan | May 10, 2020 | 6 episodes | Unknown |
| Miniseries |
| The Head | Mystery thriller | June 12, 2020 | 1 season, 6 episodes | 47–65 min. |
| Renewed; airing date unknown[16] | |
| Trinity of Shadows[17] | Crime drama | June 13, 2021 | 1 season, 15 episodes | Unknown | Mandarin | Ended[citation needed] | |
| Twisted Strings[18] | Comedy thriller/Anthology | March 27, 2022 | 7 episodes | ~60 min. | Mandarin | Ended |
Films
| Title | Genre | Release Date | Runtime | Language(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dead Mine | Action horror | September 27, 2012 | 1 hour, 27 min. | English |
| Master of the Drunken Fist: Beggar So | Action drama | December 25, 2016 | 1 hour, 33 min. | Mandarin |
| Master of the Shadowless Kick: Wong Kei-Ying | December 26, 2016 | 1 hour, 40 min. | ||
| Master of the White Crane Fist: Wong Yam-Lam | February 20, 2019 | Unknown | ||
| The Garden of Evening Mists | Romantic period drama | September 13, 2020 | 2 hour | English |
| Gensan Punch | Sports biopic | September 27, 2021 | 1 hour, 40 min. |
|
Censorship
HBO Asia was heavily censored in some Asian countries, with many series such as Sex and the City,[19] The Sopranos,[20] Entourage,[21] The Wire, Hung,[22] Girls,[23] True Blood, Game of Thrones,[24] Boardwalk Empire,[25] True Detective,[26] Westworld,[27] Insecure,[28] Succession,[29] Euphoria,[30][31][32][33] I May Destroy You,[34] Perry Mason,[35] Lovecraft Country,[36] Industry,[37] The White Lotus,[38] House of the Dragon,[39] and The Last of Us[40] aired in edited versions; certain programmes are not shown in some territories at all. This has been liberalised to an extent in recent years.[41]
The HBO-made series Entourage was taken off-air for three weeks by one cable operator in the Philippines, pending clearance by the MTRCB.[citation needed] The entire series continued to air without disruption on all other Philippines cable operators.
In Vietnam, every movie with content which is considered to oppose or distort the American War, the Communist Party of Vietnam or Communism in general is replaced by another film. In addition, if the Ministry of Culture and Information considers a movie has contents of a serious sexual or horrific nature not conforming with Vietnamese society, it will not be aired.[citation needed]
Output that feature visuals such as the middle finger, nudity, passionate intimacy and vulgar language are cut out.
In China, due to Western product restrictions, and the China-United States trade war, HBO was blocked and restricted, and the replacement is currently Tencent Video and iQIYI.[42][43]
Channels
| Network | Description | Website |
|---|---|---|
| HBO | Hollywood films and HBO original series | [b] |
| HBO Hits | Hits and blockbuster films | [b] |
| HBO Family | Family oriented films and series | [b] |
| HBO Signature | Critically acclaimed and original productions | [b] |
| Cinemax | Action and suspense movies | [b] |
| HBO On Demand | The best Hollywood films and outstanding HBO originals at your control | [b] |
| BabyFirst | 24-hour channel for babies and infants distributed by HBO Asia | Official site |
HBO South Asia
| Country | India |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | English |
| Picture format | 1080i (HDTV) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | WarnerMedia International[44] (As of 2019) Turner International India (earlier) |
| Sister channels | |
| History | |
| Launched | 22 March 2000 |
| Closed | 15 December 2020 |
| Links | |
| Website | (Archive) |
HBO formerly provided a separate feed with commercial breaks for audiences in South Asia, namely India, Bangladesh, and the Maldives. All movie promos in this beam are according to IST. A timeshifted feed for Pakistan was launched in the mid-2000s in partnership with ARY Digital Network.[45] The schedule was same as the Indian feed with the difference being the commercial breaks and timings in PST.
Before the launch of HBO South Asia, HBO tried replicating the premium model in India. But then HBO decided it wasn't commercially viable so the South Asia channel was launched in India and also in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Maldives.[46]
HBO Asia and Eros International launched HBO Defined and HBO Hits across India on 21 February 2013 on Dish TV and Airtel Digital TV. These channels are commercial-free. The content of both the channels include movies as well as most of HBO Original Programming. When the channels launched, the main HBO channel stopped airing original series.[47]
In 2015, HBO had decided to exit the Indian market and license the channel to Turner International India.[48] The channel was revamped in February 2016 after a survey conducted by the channel team to better suit the masses.[49][50] HBO Defined and HBO Hits would be handled by Star India, however HBO Defined and HBO Hits SD was shut down on 31 December 2015 while HBO Hits HD was replaced by HBO HD on 4 September 2016.[51] It only airs Hollywood movies, as Star India has the rights to HBO Original Programming which are available on Star World and Disney+ Hotstar.[52]
WarnerMedia International announced on 15 October 2020 that HBO South Asia and WB Channel would close down on 15 December 2020. The HBO channel would no longer be available in India and Pakistan, while WB Channel ceased to exist in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and the Maldives.[53]
HBO India had closed down at midnight with the last movie on the SD channel being Mad Max: Fury Road (completed 1 hour before the shutdown) and the last movie on the HD channel being Memoirs of a Geisha. HBO Pakistan was also closed down at midnight.
See also
Notes
- ^ Acquired by HBO Asia from Tencent Video
- ^ a b c d e f The link has been archived at the Wayback Machine
References
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