Bloys is clear that there is no single answer to that question. “Does it feel like a spectacle? Does it feel cinematic? Does it feel like it\u2019s pushing boundaries in some way? Does it feel like it\u2019s breaking new talent that you wouldn\u2019t see somewhere else?”<\/p>\n
What matters, he suggests, is not the definition but the discipline of asking. “There are many ways to approach it\u2026 but the fact that we\u2019re asking the question has been a good guide for us.”<\/p>\n
Just as important is what that question rules out. “One of the things we\u2019ve also asked over the years\u2026 is whether it feels like something you could see somewhere else or not.”<\/p>\n
That instinct \u2013 to differentiate rather than replicate \u2013 has been key to HBO\u2019s evolution, even when it has meant challenging internal assumptions. Bloys recalls how Girls once felt unusual for the network, given the long-held belief that the “male head of household” was the primary cable subscriber. Game of Thrones, meanwhile, initially struck some as an outlier.<\/p>\n
“I remember when it came out it felt a bit like ‘swords and sandals’,” he says. “Something like Euphoria… we\u2019d never had a protagonist be that young.”<\/p>\n
![\"Zendaya](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/euphoria-zendaya-s3-099de25.jpg\" "\\"euphoria-zendaya-s3\\"")
<\/p>\n
Zendaya in Euphoria season 3.\u00a0Patrick Wymore\/HBO<\/p>\n
What links those shows is not genre but risk \u2013 and a willingness to back ideas that don\u2019t fit the mould.<\/p>\n
“I\u2019ve been lucky enough\u2026 never to have worked for people who made me feel like, ‘If this show doesn\u2019t work, that\u2019s it,” Bloys says. “I would like to think I create the same environment\u2026 trying things and not being afraid to fail. Some things work, some things don\u2019t, and understanding that failure is part of the process.”<\/p>\n
That philosophy has allowed HBO to greenlight projects that might otherwise have seemed unlikely. Industry<\/a>, for instance, began as a low-budget experiment \u2013 a Cardiff-shot series built around writers with real-world finance experience and actors fresh out of drama school.<\/p>\n “It was really kind of an experiment: could we do a show for a relatively small budget\u2026 and used young talent\u2026 was there something in that low cost model that would make sense?” Bloys explains. “It was a very easy yes\u2026 and it felt like a really interesting way to approach something.”<\/p>\n Five seasons on, the show is coming to a close<\/a> \u2013 a decision driven as much by creative ambition as longevity. “It\u2019s been five seasons\u2026 they\u2019ve reinvented it so many times,” he says. “I think five seasons is a really good run\u2026 I\u2019d love to see what else they [series creators Mickey Down and Konrad Kay] could do.”<\/p>\n Elsewhere, series like The White Lotus<\/a> and even the original pitch for a drama, Succession<\/a>, from comedy writer Jesse Armstrong underline the same point: experimentation is not the exception at HBO \u2013 it\u2019s the system.<\/p>\n “Sometimes you\u2019re rewarded when you take a shot, sometimes you\u2019re not,” Bloys says. “But you can\u2019t overthink it or over-prescribe anything.”<\/p>\n In a streaming landscape increasingly defined by short seasons and long gaps, that mindset has also led HBO to identify opportunities in what others have left behind. With The Pitt<\/a>, the network is deliberately reviving a “lost art”<\/a> \u2014 the longer, broadcast-style season.<\/p>\n “One of the things\u2026 we would do sometimes is look around the landscape and see what\u2019s not being done,” Bloys says. “A lot of people were chasing us\u2026 seven or eight episodes, prestige series\u2026 and one of the things that kind of got neglected was\u2026 broadcast-style shows.”<\/p>\n The result is a 15-episode season designed to return annually \u2013 a rarity in modern prestige television. “People have been busy\u2026 doing seven, eight episodes\u2026 every year-and-a-half to two years,” he adds. “So when we looked around and said, ‘Well, what\u2019s not there?\u2019 \u2013 that kind of show\u2026 felt like something that was missing.”<\/p>\n Crucially, it\u2019s not just about volume but reliability. “I know every January we\u2019re going to have a new season,” Bloys says. “You have to set up a show that you\u2019re able to produce on an annual basis\u2026 writers who know how to turn around a show.”<\/p>\n If that approach reflects a broader willingness to zig where others zag, HBO\u2019s strategy around major IP is defined by restraint.<\/p>\n Peter Claffey as Dunk and Dexter Sol Ansell as Egg in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.\u00a0HBO\/Sky<\/p>\n Despite the enduring popularity of Game of Thrones, Bloys is wary of overextending the franchise<\/a>. “I don\u2019t like to make any decisions ahead of time, like ‘we need so many spin-offs’\u2026 because you may compromise,” he says. “We\u2019ve had exactly two spin-offs\u2026 and a lot of speculation elsewhere.”<\/p>\n Development, he insists, remains a numbers game \u2013 but one where commitment comes late. “You really do have to develop a lot of things\u2026 without committing to a show.”<\/p>\n The same philosophy applies to other properties, including Dune, which recently saw a spin-off in the form of the Dune: Prophecy <\/a>series. “Just because something is big IP\u2026 nothing guarantees that people are going to tune in\u2026 or that the audience will be big and stay big,” he says. “You still have to develop\u2026 find shows that are worthy.”<\/p>\n Even the much-anticipated TV adaptation of Harry Potter<\/a> is being approached with restraint. “The idea is not to\u2026 turn it into a DC or a Marvel,” Bloys says. “The idea is to go in and do the books.”<\/p>\n That means a longer-form, more detailed interpretation<\/a> \u2013 with room for expansion. “There will be things in the show that were not in the movie\u2026 but are not off-canon,” he explains. “The opportunity\u2026 is to spend more time with the books.”<\/p>\n Elsewhere, future plans remain fluid. A third season of The Last of Us may mark the end of that story, while a potential adaptation of Baldur’s Gate<\/a> is still in early discussion.<\/p>\n For Bloys, the through-line is consistency of philosophy rather than certainty of outcome. HBO\u2019s future, like its past, will be defined by the same central question \u2014 and the willingness to keep evolving around it.<\/p>\n “I think because you\u2019ve got a core of people who\u2019ve been there a long time and think about that development process \u2014 asking, is it worth paying for, is it new \u2014 there\u2019s a built-in evolution,” he says.<\/p>\n “If you look at different points along the way\u2026 part of what makes HBO work is that, by definition, in our DNA we\u2019re not trying to do the same thing over and over again.”<\/p>\n And as HBO Max arrives in the UK, that refusal to stand still may be its greatest asset.<\/p>\n Check out more of our Drama<\/a> coverage or visit our TV Guide<\/a> and Streaming Guide<\/a> to find out what’s on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The man shaping HBO\u2019s future is thinking less about algorithms and more about instinct. As Casey Bloys, chairman…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":370766,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[93,61,60,282],"class_list":{"0":"post-370765","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=370765"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370765\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/370766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=370765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=370765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=370765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Peter](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0218AKOTSKS01-49a0719.jpg\" "\\"Peter")
<\/p>\n