{"id":5552,"date":"2014-03-10T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-03-10T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvusa\/2014\/03\/10\/richard-plepler\/"},"modified":"2016-01-28T13:23:18","modified_gmt":"2016-01-28T18:23:18","slug":"richard-plepler","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvusa\/richard-plepler\/","title":{"rendered":"Richard Plepler"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"This interview originally appeared in the MIPTV 2014 issue of <\/em>World Screen.<\/em><\/p>\n

Home Box Office has set the gold standard for premium pay-TV services with its mix of feature films, sports, documentaries and groundbreaking award-winning original productions. This for\u00admula has been successfully exported to Latin America, Central Europe and Asia. CEO Richard Plepler oversees linear channels that target different segments of the audience, as well as the online offering HBO GO that gives subscribers access to favorite shows anytime and anywhere.<\/p>\n

WS: <\/strong>HBO was one of the many bright spots in Time Warner’s recent financials. What was the key driver behind your revenue increase?
\nPLEPLER:<\/strong> We had a really good 2013 highlighted by the largest subscriber growth domestically in 17 years. HBO International services also saw significant increase that resulted in a worldwide subscriber count of over 127 million. Of course, what drives all this is one of the strongest programming slates in HBO history and technological innovation that allows the consumer easy access to our acclaimed content.<\/p>\n

WS: <\/strong>Given the competitive environment, how are you able to continue attracting\u00e2\u0080\u00a8feature-film talent to HBO originals? Are the shorter-run series more\u00e2\u0080\u00a8appealing to talent?
\nPLEPLER: <\/strong>What\u2019s always appealing to talent in whatever form is great writing and great storytelling. We are fortunate to have an enormous array of extraordinary talent that wants to work with us, both in front of and behind the camera. The combination of the power of HBO\u2019s brand and that enormous talent is the recipe for all the great work you see on the screen\u2014and we\u2019re just getting started.<\/p>\n

WS:<\/strong> What have you learned from how your subscribers are using HBO GO and your\u00e2\u0080\u00a8on-demand service? What are the prospects for offering HBO GO as a\u00e2\u0080\u00a8standalone offer?
\nPLEPLER: <\/strong>The value of the subscription is significantly enhanced for our subscriber when they take advantage of HBO On Demand and HBO GO. HBO GO alone has 1,900 hours of programming. The ability to watch all of our shows when they want, where they want, and how they want, is a huge benefit for the consumer. For now the current model with our partners offers the best return for our business. \u00e2\u0080\u00a8\u00e2\u0080\u00a8<\/p>\n

WS: <\/strong>What are some of the ways you’re working with your platform partners to\u00e2\u0080\u00a8drive subscriptions?
\nPLEPLER: <\/strong>There is a line I like to quote from Godfather II<\/em>, \u201cWe always make money for our partners.\u201d Our partners recognize that we can play a key role in the evolution of their business. Newly introduced packages such as Comcast\u2019s Internet Plus highlight the inclusion of HBO and HBO GO because our brand elevates the offering. This is all very exciting for our business in that it not only puts us at the forefront of a marketing campaign but also gets HBO into the home at a much lower price point.<\/p>\n

WS:<\/strong> Given the volume of original series, what role do acquired movies still play\u00e2\u0080\u00a8in the HBO programming mix?
\nPLEPLER: <\/strong>Theatricals play a huge role in the HBO subscription, which is why we took the steps to lock up four studios into the next decade (Warner Bros., Fox, Universal, Summit). Approximately 80 percent of the viewing on HBO is theatrical films. Titles such as The Hobbit<\/em>, The<\/em> Wolverine <\/em>and Fast and Furious<\/em> will be watched tens of millions of times. Our customers love them and place great value in having them on HBO in our exclusive window. \u00e2\u0080\u00a8\u00e2\u0080\u00a8<\/p>\n

WS: <\/strong>HBO recently expanded its partnership with Sky to include co-productions. Are you looking to other partnerships globally to fill your original\u00e2\u0080\u00a8programming needs?
\nPLEPLER:<\/strong> It is not reflection of any particular need per se. We have been in business with Sky for many years and the co-production arrangement was a natural evolution of that relationship. HBO has participated in many co-productions over the years and we will continue to do so when it makes sense.<\/p>\n

WS: <\/strong>What other growth opportunities do you see for HBO outside of the U.S.?
\nPLEPLER: <\/strong>All our international businesses have great upside potential. Many of the countries where we have HBO-branded networks are still building out multichannel homes and we will benefit from that expansion. The rollout of HBO GO will also continue and that only strengthens the subscription.<\/p>\n

In addition, our new output-deal model, \u201cHome of HBO,\u201d in which the HBO brand is licensed along with the programming, has been very successful and prompted interest in additional countries.<\/p>\n

Lastly, the HBO services are doing more and more local production. HBO Latin America has led these efforts with a great number of productions, but the miniseries The Burning Bush<\/em> out of HBO Central Europe received overwhelming acclaim.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This interview originally appeared in the MIPTV 2014 issue of World Screen. Home Box Office has set the gold standard for premium pay-TV services with its mix of feature films, sports, documentaries and groundbreaking award-winning original productions. This for\u00admula has been successfully exported to Latin America, Central Europe and Asia. CEO Richard Plepler oversees linear …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5553,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-interviews"],"yoast_head":"\nRichard Plepler<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Richard Plepler. The CEO of HBO.. 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