The art of reinvention

"Simply the best," has been HBO’s tagline for over a decade now in Asia, and more than 30 years worldwide.

HBO, the 24-hour cable network and subscription movie channel, has thus far become successful in its commitment to provide blockbuster movies to Asian televiewers.

It has also pioneered in coming up with over 75 titles, no commercial breaks, and more than 25 new films to boast of every month.

How did the movie network achieve this feat – topping local TV ratings and surveys? Perhaps, the answer is by reinvention.

Ergo, HBO’s local viewers remain hooked on this movie channel – whether weekdays or weekends – satisfied with the network’s programming and feature titles through the years.

Speaking of brewing something new for its loyal followers, HBO Asia marketing communications director Caroline Wong visited the Philippines last month to reveal the channel’s major plan for 2004, HBO The Big One.

This new primetime viewing offers award-winning and top-grossing movies of the past years every month. Some of them haven’t premiered locally, thus making for 12 must-see movies for the year.

"HBO is featuring the biggest corporate movies (of last year) which earned at least $200 million," begins Caroline Wong, who deals mainly with consumer-trade advertising and promotions, and media and public relations in major Asian markets. "The channel created a Sunday time slot to accommodate The Big One feature film and to respond to viewers’ craving for more movies to watch."

Caroline adds that The Big One is the network’s way of "going one step ahead" to continue providing the latest and current movies. Thus, The Big One is an addition to its current programming: Movies on Saturday; HBO originals (like Sex and the City, Six Feet Under) every Tuesday; action movies on Mondays; Superstars on Wednesday; and a lot more.

Having been with the company for barely a decade now, Caroline knows what’s best for the channel’s clientele. That’s why when The Big One was conceptualized, she was eager to push through with it.

So far, The Big One has shown Spider Man and Men in Black II and soon Minority Report.

Asked what are the other nine feature movies to be aired every month on a Sunday night, Caroline replied, "I can’t reveal them for some competitive reason. But if you look back for the last two years, you will have an idea what movies these are . As of now, I can’t divulge them. Perhaps we’ll have movies of the same stature as Harry Potter which earned so much money."

If Caroline can’t reveal them, it only means one thing: they must be excellent movies. For a film to make it to the list of HBO "elite" movies, it has to meet certain standards.

"The movie should at least earn $200 million," says Caroline. "It must be of quality, with entertainment value to boot. But again, if a movie has reached $200 million, that means it met all other aspects of a good movie."

If one wonders how the movie network gets an excellent line-up of movies year after year, it’s because HBO has exclusive licensing deals and partnership with the biggest Hollwood studios: Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios, Columbia Tri/Star, DreamWorks and Warner Bros. With HBO’s affiliations, the network has successfully beamed movies on TV for years. This spells convenience for those of us who had failed to catch a favorite film on the big screen.

Given a number of movie and local channels on the boob tube, HBO defines competition in another way.

"If someone is watching free TV and a documentary channel, that’s not competition," says Caroline. "For us, competition is when someone is not watching HBO. It primarily aims to keep viewers tuned into the network, and coming back for more."

"At the end of the day, we at HBO are able to deliver movie entertainment and give our viewers something even better," adds Caroline. "This is why we come up with new ideas. We want to make sure our followers are satisfied with what they are viewing. HBO is always after the viewers’ convenience any day of the week."