There was a time, not too long ago, when the name HBO was synonymous with top-shelf television.
Some of our readers may remember the cable giant’s iconic slogan from its heyday, which summed up its unique approach to programming:
“It’s not; it’s HBO,” we’re told. In retrospect, this may sound ridiculously grandiose, but at the time, it rang surprisingly true.
If one were to write a comprehensive history of American television over the past 25 years, it would be difficult not to mention HBO on every page.
When “Sex and the City” became an overnight cultural phenomenon in the summer of 1998, industry analysts might have dismissed it as a fluke—an unexpected hit for a premium cable channel known for its secondary market for theatrical films. sexual examples.
However, what HBO executives accomplished in the ensuing years cannot be easily dismissed.
“The Sopranos,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “The Wire,” “Deadwood” and “Six Feet” all established Home Box Office as an industry leader and later became known as “prestige television.”
In the 2010s, shows like Boardwalk Empire, Veep, Silicon Valley, and Succession continued to find success, winning over critics and audiences alike.
Of course, in 2011, a true underdog series—based on a very niche (and unfinished) fantasy novel series—shocked the industry and gave HBO its highest ratings to date .
Before its premiere, few predicted that Game of Thrones would become the biggest show of the decade.
(The pilot’s horrific wigs and other evidence of a tight budget serve as a reminder of how reluctant networks were to bet on a pair of unproven producers.)
At the time, it seemed like GoT would be the beginning of a new era of unprecedented success for HBO.
But we all know what happened next.
The show fizzled out in its final seasons, ending with what many call the most disappointing series finale in television history.
This is the beginning of what is known as The Curse of Game of Thrones.
The show ended in 2019, and it now appears that premium cable may never see such a large audience again.
The slate of HBO original series premiering in the 2020s includes plenty of quality shows, but not many that are huge hits.
Lovecraft Country, Perry Mason, and Winning Time all received decent reviews, but none lasted more than two seasons.
Compare that to a decade ago, when at least one of the hit HBO shows aired every Sunday night of the year.
“Penguin,” “White Lotus,” “Industry,” “Somebody,” and “The Gilded Age” are all great series.
(Especially someone, somewhere, who is grossly underrated.)
But none of them achieved high ratings.
Yes, HBO has declined so much that even a DC Universe show spinoff from the hugely successful Batman movie often fails to crack the 2 million viewer mark.
By comparison, the GoT series finale was watched by a staggering 19.3 million viewers.
There have been some bright spots in recent years, most notably The Last of Us, which attracted 4.7 million viewers for its first season premiere in January 2023.
Obviously, this is nowhere near the numbers that GoT touted, but TLoU’s audience continues to grow as the season progresses.
In fact, it almost doubled. 8.2 million people watched the series finale.
The video game adaptation became HBO’s second-biggest debut of the decade, behind only “House of the Dragon.”
Unfortunately, the series’ second season saw a drop in numbers. Executives are now hoping The Last of Us can reverse that trend when its second season premieres next year.
HBO’s decline is perhaps best illustrated by House of the Dragon, the first and only Game of Thrones spinoff to date.
The show had a strong debut with over 10 million viewers. But the dragon would never fly to those heights again.
In fact, the show’s ratings dropped a whopping 22% when its second season premiered.
There are many factors at play here:
Streaming options have divided TV audiences year by year, and last year’s writers’ and actors’ strike forced “HoD” to take an extended hiatus, which may have led to a decline in audience interest.
But these same factors affect every platform, with broadcast networks’ audiences roughly the same size as they were 10 years ago, as well as those of the major basic cable channels.
So what’s going on? Well, a lot has been written about what went wrong with HBO.
Most pointed the finger at Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav, whose marketing missteps included the disastrous decision to rename HBO’s streaming app “Max.”
But in a collapse of this magnitude, more than one factor is almost certainly attributable. HBO bosses will likely want to take drastic action in 2025 to correct their ways.
Currently, at least two more Game of Thrones spin-offs are in development.
But Zaslav and company may be starting to feel that the dragon trend is dying. The next Game of Thrones-level hit might not be coming to Westeros.
TV fans, what do you think? Is there any hope for HBO to regain its former glory?
Hit the comments section below to share your thoughts!
Watch House of the Dragon online
