Home Box Office announced today the launch of an HBO branded subscription video on demand service in the United Kingdom. Known around the world for its acclaimed and groundbreaking original programming, the launch marks HBO’s first entry into the UK marketplace bringing its renowned programs to audiences in the region under a stand alone HBO branded destination.

“HBO’s programming has always done very well in the UK and the arrival of an HBO service has been long desired and anticipated. We are very excited to offer HBO programming in a subscription video on demand format, where we can deliver our acclaimed series and specials to UK audiences on their schedule,” said Simon Sutton, President, Programming Distribution and International, HBO. “This opportunity enables us to raise our profile in the region, while providing viewers with a distinct HBO environment.”

With launch dates to be determined by each of the distributors, the HBO SVOD service will be made available on BT Vision, Tiscali TV and Virgin Media. The service will provide at least 50 hours of HBO’s acclaimed original programming upon its full rollout, including award-winning series, miniseries, documentaries and comedy specials.

On July 1, 2001, HBO first launched its SVOD service, HBO On DemandSM, in the United States. Since then, HBO On DemandSM has enjoyed great success, becoming the most popular on demand television service in the US, growing to over 11 million subscribers nationwide. HBO On DemandSM not only allows subscribers to watch HBO programming when they wish and as much as they like, they can also enjoy the benefits of pausing, rewinding and fast-forwarding their selections.

The programming line-up on the UK HBO on demand service will be updated on a weekly basis and will provide consumers with the freedom to enjoy HBO programming whenever they want. Over time, the library on the service will build to include all episodes of the featured HBO series, starting with the first episode of season one and growing each consecutive week. Included among the programs available at launch will be the HBO series “The Sopranos” (Emmy® and Golden Globe Award winner for Best Drama Series,) “Six Feet Under” (Golden Globe Award winner for Best Television Series-Drama,) “Entourage” (Emmy® winner and Golden Globe nominee) and “Curb Your Enthusiasm” (Golden Globe Award winner for Best Television Series-Musical or Comedy,) among others.

In addition, the service will feature miniseries “Band of Brothers,” “Angels in America” and “From the Earth to the Moon” (all winners of the Emmy® and Golden Globe Awards for Best Miniseries); documentaries “Autopsy” and “Taxicab Confessions;” and comedy specials “Ellen DeGeneres: The Beginning” and “Chris Rock: Never Scared” among other programs.

Home Box Office, Inc. is the premium television programming subsidiary of Time Warner Inc., providing two 24-hour premium television services, HBO and Cinemax. Together, both networks reach approximately 40 million subscribers in the United States via cable and satellite delivery. Home Box Office's international joint ventures bring HBO branded services to more than 50 countries around the globe.

About BT Vision
BT launched its next-generation television service, BT Vision, in December 2006. Combining the appeal of TV with the interactivity of broadband, and without the need for a compulsory subscription, customers can watch what they want when they want and not be tied to TV schedules. Customers have access to an extensive library of on-demand content via broadband and more than 40 Freeview channels via aerial.

BT Vision has already announced content deals with a range of leading entertainment companies including studios such as: Disney, Dreamworks, Lionsgate, Momentum, Paramount and Universal; music rights owners Eagle Rock, EMI Music UK, i-concerts, MTV, SONY BMG, Warner Music Group and TV content owners BBC Worldwide, Channel 4, Entertainment Rights plc, HIT Entertainment, National Geographic Channel, Nelvana, NBD Television, Turner Broadcasting, Viacom and Wall to Wall Television.

About Tiscali
Tiscali UK forms part of Tiscali SpA., headquartered in Cagliari, Italy. The UK company was launched in July, 2001 following the acquisitions of Liberty Surf, World Online and LineOne. Tiscali UK also acquired Tiny and Gateway ISPs and more recently Video Networks Limited in 2006 to enable it to provide Triple Play broadband, telephone and home entertainment IPTV and Video on Demand services.

Providing broadband, dialup, telephone and now TV services to over 1.7 million customers, Tiscali UK is positioned within the UK market as the 3rd largest DSL broadband provider.

About Virgin Media
Virgin Media is an innovative and pioneering UK entertainment and communications business. For the first time consumers can get everything they need from one company - the UK's only quad play of TV, broadband, phone and mobile plus the UK’s most advanced TV on demand service available, the UK’s first high definition TV service and V+, our high specification personal video recorder. We're the UK’s most popular broadband provider, the largest virtual mobile network operator and the second largest provider of pay tv and home phone.

Virgin Media owns two content businesses - Virgin Media Television and sit-up. Virgin Media Television owns seven entertainment channels - LIVINGtv, LIVINGtv 2, Bravo, Bravo 2, Challenge, Trouble and Ftn - and is a 50% partner in UKTV which consists of ten channels including UKTV Gold and UKTV History. sit-up runs retail TV channels bid tv, price-drop tv and speed auctiontv.

Virgin Media is the largest Virgin company in the world and has almost 10 million customers (5m cable, 4.5m Virgin Mobile, 250,000 virgin.net).