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Our Bureau

New Delhi, Aug. 18 HBO India is already celebrating its upcoming eighth birthday in September with the new original series, Big Love, which premiered in its channel early this month.

The television channel, known for its expensive original movies and miniseries, some of them directed and produced by the biggest of names in Hollywood, is hoping the Gary Goetzman and Tom Hanks-produced Big Love will be as appreciated as Sex in the City and Entourage was by its audiences.

According to Ms Shruti Bajpai, Country Manager, HBO South Asia, the ‘originals’ which are produced specially for the channel are a huge differentiator. The Big Love series will coincide with the Emmys — the international television awards that HBO has a record number of nominations for.

Ms Bajpai believes Big Love will be an iconic series, and points out that the season comes to India even before it is seen in a few other Asian markets. Season two of the series could reach India even earlier, says Ms Bajpai.

The time between theatrical releases and television premieres of movies has also reduced significantly. HBO is bringing Darfur Now, the Angelina Jolie-starring A Mighty Heart and In Pursuit of Happiness.

“We have shown three of the highest rated movies recently — Spiderman 3, Superman Returns and Ghost Rider. Whether it is a Hollywood or Bollywood channel, the mainstay has to be blockbusters. That’s what rakes in the most for a channel,” said Ms Bajpai.

She would not share specific numbers but said the channel continued to see a healthy growth year on year, with 300-400 advertisers. “We have remained among the top three rated English entertainment channels because of the high quality and stickiness of our content,” said Ms Bajpai.

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