BSkyB acquires HBO catalogue

BSkyB has agreed a deal for the exclusive rights to the HBO TV catalogue, which includes American shows such as The Wire, The Sopranos and Martin Scorsese's eagerly-anticipated gangster drama, Boardwalk Empire

The broadcaster has agreed a content deal with HBO, which was the first broadcaster to provide a pay-TV service screening big-budget dramas. The deal means Sky can screen HBO's archive and all forthcoming shows for the duration of the five-year agreement, which is understood to be worth around £150m.

Sky can now air some of US television’s milestone shows of the past ten years, including The Sopranos and Sex and the City, which will all be available on the relaunched catch-up TV service Sky+. The broadcaster also has secured the rights to a number of series currently shown by its competitors, such as Entourage on ITV2 and Curb Your Enthusiasm on Channel 4, and will begin screening those series once those respective deals expire. It will also have rights to HBO shows that have ended but remain popular, like the black comedy Six Feet Under.

The first HBO series to premier on Sky will be Scorsese's Boardwalk Empire, which takes place in Atlantic City during the 1920s and stars Steve Buscemi as a mob boss profiting from illegal sales of alcohol during prohibition. Furthermore, Sky One, which already shows Steven Spielberg's Second World War drama, Pacific, and will now also hold the rights to Band of Brothers, the director's TV series focusing on the D-Day landings in Normandy.

The acquisition is part of a drive by Sky to enhance and diversify its non-sport content to boost subscriber numbers and reduce its reliance on sports content, mostly the Premier League.

Source: Guardian

Published on: 29/07/2010 11:02:00