HBO Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ====Cinemax==== {{main|Cinemax}} [[File:Cinemax 2016.svg|thumb|Cinemax logo]] Cinemax is an American pay television network owned by the Home Box Office, Inc. subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. Originally developed as a companion service to HBO, the channel's programming consists of recent and some older theatrically released feature films, original [[action fiction|action drama]] series, documentaries, and special [[wikt: behind the scenes|behind-the-scenes]] featurettes. While Cinemax and HBO operate as separate premium services, their respective channel tiers are very frequently sold as a combined package by many multichannel television providers; however, customers have the option of subscribing to HBO and Cinemax's corresponding channel packages individually. On August 1, 1980, HBO launched Cinemax, a companion movie-based premium channel created as a direct competitor to two existing movie-focused premium channels: [[The Movie Channel]], then a smaller, standalone pay movie service owned by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment (then part-owned by Warner Bros. Discovery predecessor Warner Communications), and [[Home Theater Network]] (HTN), a now-defunct service owned by [[Westinghouse Broadcasting|Group W Satellite Communications]] that focused on G- and PG-rated films.<ref>{{cite news|title=2d Cable Movie Service From Home Box Office|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1980/07/31/archives/2d-cable-movie-service-from-home-box-office.html|newspaper=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|date=July 31, 1980|access-date=March 29, 2009}}</ref> Cinemax succeeded in its early years partly because it relied on classic movie releases from the 1950s to the 1970s—with some more recent films mixed into its schedule—that it presented uncut and without commercial interruption, at a time when limited [[cable television headend|headend]] channel capacity resulted in cable subscribers only being able to receive as many as three dozen channels (up to half of which were reserved for local and out-of-market broadcast stations, and public access channels). In most cases, cable operators tended to sell Cinemax and HBO as a singular premium bundle, usually offered at a discount for customers that decided to subscribe to both channels. Cinemax, unlike HBO, also maintained a 24-hour schedule from its launch, one of the first pay cable services to transmit around the clock. Even early in its existence, Cinemax tried to diversify its programming beyond movies. Beginning in 1984, it incorporated music specials and some limited original programming (among them, ''[[Second City Television|SCTV Channel]]'' and ''[[Max Headroom (TV series)|Max Headroom]]'') into the channel's schedule. Around this time, Cinemax also began airing adult-oriented [[softcore pornography|softcore pornographic films and series]]—containing [[sexual intercourse|strong sexual content]] and nudity—in varying late-night timeslots (usually no earlier than 11:30 p.m. Eastern and Pacific); this programming block, originally airing under the "Friday After Dark" banner (renamed "Max After Dark" in 2008 to better reflect its prior expansion to a nightly block), would become strongly associated with the channel among its subscribers and in [[pop culture]]. The channel began gradually scaling back its adult programming offerings in 2011, in an effort to shift focus towards its mainstream films and original programs, culminating in the removal of "Max After Dark" content from its linear and on-demand platforms in 2018, as part of a broader exit from the genre across Home Box Office, Inc.'s platforms.<ref>{{cite web|title=Little brother Cinemax gets extensive makeover|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-13619333.html|author=Rod Granger|periodical=Multichannel News|date=November 2, 1992|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105130753/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-13619333.html|archive-date=November 5, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Skinemax">{{cite news|title=HBO's stealth plan to kill off 'Skinemax'|url=http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/tv/guns_poses_05H3v5lnOgLrvPyjcJWoGL|author=Michael Shain|newspaper=[[New York Post]]|date=February 14, 2011}}</ref><ref name="wrap-hbodropsadultprog"/> In terms of mainstream programming, Cinemax began premiering original action series in the early 2010s, beginning with the August 2011 debut of ''[[Strike Back (TV series)|Strike Back]]'' (which has since become the channel's longest-running original program). As a consequence of WarnerMedia reallocating its programming resources toward the HBO Max streaming service, Cinemax eliminated scripted programming after the last of its remaining slate of action series ended in early 2021, shifting the channel back to its original structure as a movie-exclusive premium service.<ref name="Skinemax"/> The linear Cinemax multiplex service, {{As of|2021|lc=y}}, consists of the primary feed and seven thematic channels: MoreMax (launched in April 1991 as Cinemax 2, in conjunction with HBO2's rollout); ActionMax (originally launched as Cinemax 3 in 1995); ThrillerMax (launched in 1998);<ref name="HBO digital networks"/> MovieMax (originally launched as the female-targeted WMax in May 2001); Cinemáx (a Spanish language simulcast feed, which originally launched as the young adult-focused @Max in 2001), 5StarMax (launched in May 2001) and OuterMax (launched in May 2001).<ref>{{cite web|title=Cinemax Branches Out with Four Plexes|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-69279493.html|author=Linda Moss|periodical=Multichannel News|date=January 15, 2001|access-date=March 13, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140611030159/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-69279493.html|archive-date=June 11, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release|title=Rebrand Advisory|url=http://www.homeboxoffice.com/to/Recently_Updated/Rebrand_Advisory.pdf|publisher=Home Box Office, Inc.|date=May 23, 2013|access-date=March 23, 2015|archive-date=April 2, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402092140/http://www.homeboxoffice.com/to/Recently_Updated/Rebrand_Advisory.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Cinemax changing @MAX to Spanish-language MAX Latino|url=http://hd-report.com/2013/05/24/cinemax-changing-max-to-spanish-language-max-latino/|website=HD Report|date=May 24, 2013}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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