Inside the Rise of HBO: A Personal History of the Company That Transformed Television, by Bill Mesce
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Inside the Rise of HBO: A Personal History of the Company That Transformed Television, by Bill Mesce
PDF Ebook Inside the Rise of HBO: A Personal History of the Company That Transformed Television, by Bill Mesce
There are two ages in the history of television: before HBO and after HBO. Before the launch of Home Box Office in 1972, the industry had changed little since the birth of broadcast network television in the late 1940s. The arrival of the premium cable channel began a revolution in the business and programming of TV. For the generation that has grown up with the vast array of viewing choices available today, it is almost inconceivable that our ever-expanding media universe began with a few hours of unimpressive programming on a single cable channel. Written by an insider, this is the story of HBO's reconfiguration of television and the company's continual reinvention of itself in a competitive and dynamic industry.
Inside the Rise of HBO: A Personal History of the Company That Transformed Television, by Bill Mesce - Amazon Sales Rank: #726329 in Books
- Published on: 2015-06-26
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.90" h x .80" w x 6.00" l,
- Binding: Paperback
- 292 pages
Inside the Rise of HBO: A Personal History of the Company That Transformed Television, by Bill Mesce Review "(Bill Mesce) has produced a very readable history of the network and the television landscape that created it...There are few books chronicling the network...so this personal account fills a need." -- LIBRARY JOURNAL"Drawing upon his twenty-seven years of experience working at HBO, Bill Mesce brings a very special expertise to laying out an informed and informative history of one of the most influential companies the entertainment industry in general, and the television industry in particular, has ever known. Exceptionally well written, organized and presented...a truly extraordinary corporate history and very highly recommended..." -- MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW"...Bill Mesce gives readers an insider's view of (HBO's) roots and ultimate revolution...it's a hoot to recall such ill-fated tries at 'original' programming as the footballs-and-tits sitcom 1ST AND TEN...the things I found MOST interesting are found in the appendices, in which Mesce shares the job details of those who select the movies to show and then put the schedule together like a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle." -- FLICK ATTACK/BOOKGASM"...(Bill Mesce's) unique perspective makes for the ideal coverage of events from an insider's perspective and makes for a powerful account of the advent, evolution, and golden age of paid television. No media collection should be without this thorough, detailed history." -- MBR Bookwatch
About the Author Bill Mesce, Jr., spent 27 years at Home Box Office, working in various capacities in Corporate Communications. He is also a screenwriter and author. He lives in Linden, New Jersey.
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0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Detailed and Interesting View of HBO By julie whiteley Inside the Rise of HBO: A Personal History of the Company That Transformed Television by Bill Mesce, Jr. is a 2015 McFarland Publication.I was provided a copy of this book via the LibraryThing Early review program.I have read other books about HBO, it’s history, failures and successes, but, this book is written by a man who worked for the company for twenty-seven years, which gives the reader an up close and personal view of the strategies used, the marketing applied, the experimentation, and the ability and willingness of the company to reinvent itself to stay ahead of some pretty intense competition and changing tides.In order to see how HBO impacted the television industry, one does need a brief look at the types of programming aired on television during the infancy of broadcasting. So, this book gives a very brief history of how television got its start, and how rapidly it had progressed by the 1970’s.It’s funny to think that HBO got off to such a ludicrous beginning, with only four hundred subscribers in 1972, and showing only a hockey game and a two- year-old movie at its premier.But, pay television itself had a pretty bumpy start, with numerous attempts to launch such services falling flat. But, with some incredible technological luck involving fiber optics, and the sport of boxing, HBO finally got a break. Once it took off, it never looked back and the rest... is history.Many of you reading this review were born with pay cable installed in your home, and are immune to 500 channels running twenty-four hours a day, with no commercials. In fact, while this amazed me for many years, most of you will have shunned the big cable packages, and even view it with great disdain. Some of you may even strain to remember a time before Hulu and Netflix and YouTube.But, there are a few of us dinosaurs left out there who spent their formative years watching three, maybe four broadcast channels that went off the air at midnight. For me, it wasn’t until 1978 or 79, that rumors began to circulate in my small hometown, that cable television was coming to our neck of the woods.Soon, instead coming home from school and watching old reruns of “Bewitched” or After School Specials, I was able to switch on Home Box Office at four PM.Movies, sports, and stand-up comedy routines were the usual fare, with a sprinkling of live concerts from KISS to Barry Manilow just to name a few. This certainly beats watching reruns, that’s for sure. But, for someone who grew up on commercial broadcast channels, the true marvel was that it was commercial free programming. The other significant difference was the uncut movies, which of course meant nudity and cursing right there in the living room, which for some was quite shocking.HBO soon became a twenty-four hour channel and picked up a bit of competition when Showtime came along.However, once cable TV became the norm, cracks in the armor began to show as customers grew bored with watching the same movie rotations over and over again. HBO marketers began to realize that getting subscribers was only part of the battle. Once the consumer agreed to add HBO to their cable package, they had to wow them, which became a huge challenge, with sub-par Hollywood movies, the advent of the VCR and video rentals, and changing tastes and viewing habits.Yet, time and time again HBO somehow pulled a rabbit out of the hat, and not only survived, but flourished, outshining its competition with innovation and the courage to take risks and try new tactics. Sometimes they failed, struggled, and floundered, but always managed to land on their feet.For me, the novelty of HBO peaked during the early 2000’s with their incredible slate of comedies and dramas like “Sex and the City” and of course the incomparable drama “The Soprano’s”, which is still considered one of the best, if not THE best program in television history.Speaking from a personal prospective, the only reason my family kept HBO was for its original programming. Once these stellar dramas faded into history, I began to complain long and loud about how many times “Crimson Tide” was on. I would flip through hundreds of channels, sometimes three or four times before becoming so frustrated, I simply turned the box off and picked up a book instead.With the streaming services beginning to make waves, I became one of the first to drop cable and live solely on streaming content. This new way of viewing television begs the question; “How does HBO adapt to yet another huge change in viewer habits?”Well, it has survived everything else that was thrown at it, and is still standing. I haven’t subscribed to the channel in at least eight years, and I can’t say I really missed it. Game of Thrones is easily obtainable through DVD box sets, Amazon streams, and now, even Netflix is allowed to rent the DVD’s, and my favorite, John Oliver, is a YouTube staple. There are many quality shows on FX and AMC available through streaming services too.Still, despite the thin ice I believe HBO could be skating on, especially by holding out much too long on launching al carte apps and their tenacious adherence to the outmoded exclusivity game, which no longer holds much appeal, one should never count the company out or presume it will fail. Others have danced on its grave prematurely, only to wind up embarrassed by their predictions.I will always respect HBO for what it has done for television, providing us with some of the best, highest quality programming, setting the standard for which everyone tries to match, for opening the television viewing world wide open, and for its fighting spirit.I enjoyed this author’s unique insight into the history of HBO and the revolution of television as a whole. Although the author admits some bias, I agree that HBO is responsible for nearly every change we’ve seen in programming trends. The company, at one time, was attentive to its customers, listened to their complaints, and did work hard to give them what they wanted.Now?I think the company has its hands full trying to stay relevant and stay afloat, amid a myriad of competition vying for our time, such as apps, games, and social media. HBO can’t stop and rest on its laurels or past successes any longer. It will certainly be interesting to see what magic trick they have up their sleeve, and how HBO will cope in the future, but I can’t imagine HBO ever going down for the count. So stay tuned….This book should be fun for those who wish to explore the history of HBO, young or old, and for those who love pop culture, history, and nostalgia, and is an interesting study in marketing and business strategy.Overall, this is an interesting read with the print version containing some nice black and white photos and a nice Appendix.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. a very interesting, incredibly detailed and well-researched book By Diana H. Maine INSIDE THE RISE OF HBO: A PERSONAL HISTORY OF THE COMPANY THAT TRANSFORMED TELEVISION by Bill Mesce, Jr., is a very interesting, incredibly detailed and well-researched book. There are myriad access points to help the reader navigate the book: a Table of Contents, Preface, Introduction, 19 chapters, appendices, a bibliography and index. Mr. Mesce knows his subject well, as he spent “27 years at HBO, working in various capacities in Corporate Communications.” He is a screenwriter and an author.The book ‘read’ well and I underlined numerous passages. The appendices, bibliography and index were very helpful while reading. The appendices were especially interesting and entertaining. I liked these personal insights and experiences.The 19 chapters are a textbook progression of the history of television. In the introduction, the author writes, “HBO said TV doesn’t have to be the way it’s been. So let’s have a look at the way TV used to be.” The history references that follow do not disappoint.The first few chapters are a very readable history of the beginnings of television. “For every invention that we think of as having been sprung on mankind overnight, there lies behind it a long, little-known meandering history of organized research, workshop puttering, and seemingly unrelated dabbling. Television’s no different.”I especially liked Chapter 3 - In the beginning was the word: radio. Television was, in its early years, “an extension of network radio.”I was pleased to finally get an explanation of and a (somewhat fuzzy) understanding of how Nielsen Ratings work.Very interesting: “Cable TV was not originally developed as an alternative to broadcast television, but as an adjunct; you subscribed to cable to watch what everybody else was already watching, but that you couldn’t get.”The chapters directly related to HBO (Home Box Office) spoke about its start-up, its history, the Wall (or bad years), encryption, European ventures and its later original programming - all fascinating subjects. HBO seems to weather many storms and continually reinvents itself.This is not a boardroom tell-all book or superficial in any way. It is a meticulously detailed and extremely readable and interesting history of one of (if not the) biggest advancements of the 20th century.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Missed opportunity By Baseball Pete Being that the author was billed as an "insider", I was really hoping to hear about the early days of HBO when operations were on a shoestring and it had to make due with filling the air with some oddball programming and various Marty Glickman negotiated sports packages, along with movies. Unfortunately the 1972-1977 period is largely glossed over without much more than a casual reference.
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Inside the Rise of HBO: A Personal History of the Company That Transformed Television, by Bill Mesce
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Inside the Rise of HBO: A Personal History of the Company That Transformed Television, by Bill Mesce
