The first signs of a
Latin American expansion of HBO came with the debut of
Selecciones in 1989, a
Spanish-language track available during part of HBO's programming in the US. Up to the end of 1991, HBO already had a channel operating in Latin America, Currently known as HBO Latin America Group, the company still maintains HBO and several other licensed channels. Afterwards,
Sony Pictures joined, guaranteeing exclusivity on
Columbia and
TriStar Pictures releases. The definitive choice was Grupo Abril, which was starting TVA, its cable provider, to join as a minor shareholder. HBO Brazil went on the air on July 1, 1994. HBO also established itself as a programmer of other networks in Brazil. Its first foray was on basic cable, with Sony Entertainment Television. Later, as years passed, more channels and partnerships were accomplished by HBO Olé Partners. Abril also assured that HBO was distributed exclusively through TVA. Around the same time,
Telecine, from Globosat, was establishing its operations in the country with
20th Century Fox,
Paramount,
MGM and
Universal Pictures. In December 1994, HBO Brazil had its first experimental
3D broadcasts, distributing
anaglyph glasses for subscribers and offering additional pairs for one
real each. Three-dimensional programming consisted of short movies between regular programs. The network was also the first to adopt
multiplexing in Brazil by offering HBO2, with the original channel programming tape-delayed by 6 hours, in March 1995. to be one of its most important partners: by the end of 1999, a 5-year
satellite exclusivity contract was signed between HBO Brazil and DirecTV, estimated at $250 million. In 1997, another studio joined the network:
Walt Disney Studios. launches in Brazil, totalling 3 premium channels offered. In October, now being run directly from abroad, another channel was added: Cinemax Prime – this time earlier than the rest of Latin America, which had HBO Plus. Other than new networks, Abril's withdrawal made programming to be determined directly by HBO Latin America Group headquarters in
Coral Gables, Florida, leaving only a sales and marketing office in
São Paulo,
Brazil. On March 16, 2005, HBO Brazil, along with the HBO Max package, finally arrived to other cable providers with the inclusion of its networks on NET, the largest pay TV operator in Brazil. On satellite,
SKY Brasil, acquired by DirecTV, ended up getting the channels when both companies merged in 2006. Now, with both exclusivity contracts ended, HBO Brazil was free for negotiation with other providers. However, both NET and Sky conditioned the availability of HBO to the mandatory subscription of rival Telecine channels, and the situation remained that way until December 2009. Its
HD simulcast debuted in Brazil on October 1, 2008, through TVA. In 2010, HBO on Demand was announced for Brazil, initially through a partnership with NET, offering content
on demand for the channel's subscribers. March 2010 also represented the departure of Sony Pictures as a shareholder and partner of HBO Latin America Group, The announcement came amidst controversies: Telecine claims to now have over 70% of premieres (Disney included), an argument refuted by HBO, which, in turn, says it has over 50% of top-grossing movies. The main issue, however, is that HBO announced that it spontaneously broke up the agreement with Disney to "open space for new Brazilian productions," also contradicting Disney's Latin America VP Fernando Barbosa's statement that it was a financial issue, Telecine being "more watched and, thus, more profitable." Globosat's general manager, Alberto Pecegueiro, was also quoted as saying that his company maintains good relations with most programmers, with the exception of HBO, which he considers "thugs." HBO did not respond. ==HBO-branded channels in Brazil==