HISTORY OF THE HBO LOGO

Home Box Office, or HBO as it is more commonly known, was one of the oldest and most widely recognized channels in the world. Founded on November 8th, 1972, it was first premium cable channels available for TV. It took HBO years to achieve the legendary status it now holds, working its way up through incredible programming and some of the strongest, most obvious branding possible.

Through the years the logo of the now world famous cable channel has gone through a few changes. The logo of HBO holds importance as it played quite a major part in their climb to success and branding. The logo has also kept them relevant today and allows one to immediately identify the channel when it is on.

The first logo:

The very first logo was used for the initial five years of the company. The logo contained the full name of the company, the words “HOME BOX OFFICE” encased in a rounded rectangle with the picture of a ticket being visible in front of the word “BOX”. The style of the logo depicted a lighted marque.

The first logo is the one that was most different in style from others that would follow later on. HBO started off as a channel that only showed movies. They wanted their viewers to be able to immediately discern what channel they were watching while also showing off that their channel was a premium service. To ensure this they used the initials of that channel’s name which is something that became a signature of theirs and a staple in the logos that followed.

The second logo:

The first change to the logo came about in 1975. The logo was developed by Bemis Balkind and did away with the rounded rectangle and the three words that made up the name of the channel. The new logo only featured the initials of the channel’s name. This change symbolized that the channel had already reached great popularity in its short three years and that it was easily identifiable just by the initials of the channel’s name.

The letters used on the new logo were thick and bold with some style being added by the “O” overlapping the “B” in the logo. The change in the first and the second logo was significant but HBO was confident that their channel would be distinguishable just by their initials. However, the full name of the channel still appeared below the initials.

The third logo:

The third change to the HBO logo has been the final one. To date the current logo is being used. The third logo was incredibly similar to the second rendition of the logo but it did have a few key changes that helped one to distinguish between the two.

One of the biggest noticeable changes is that the words “Home Box Office” have been eliminated from the logo entirely. The letters make up the entirety of the logo. Another change is that the each of the letters stands on its own and there is no overlapping. While it is not confirmed, it is thought that one of the reasons for removing the words “Home Box Office” is because that movies are not HBO’s sole focus any longer.

The company has changed and evolved a lot over the years and it still remains a notable cable channel. However, one of HBO’s biggest and most important projects is TV shows. HBO actually produces exclusive TV shows, some of which are the most watched TV shows around. Having a one-dimensional logo that only promotes one aspect of your company might not be the best marketing strategy and therefore could be the reason for HBO changing their logo.

The logo now reflects that while the company is still the same that it was in 1972, it has come a long way and focuses on more than just movies. It provides a decent mix between classic and modern.

It is important to note that HBO has stuck to the same font with only minor changes but this does not include the first logo. The letters “HBO” are a bolder type of sans serif with all three letters being uppercase. The font seems customized. HBO has never changed the color of its logo, sticking to the ever-classic black and white.

While the history of HBO’s logo might not be as rich or colorful as some other companies, it is still one of the most widely recognized logos and brands in the business. Having nearly the same logo for almost half a century means that people recognize at a glance and that is perhaps what HBO was gunning for in the first place.