HBO boss Casey Bloys talks Harry Potter, The Pitt, key franchises and big new bets as network launches streamer in UK

The man shaping HBO’s future is thinking less about algorithms and more about instinct.

As Casey Bloys, chairman and CEO of HBO and Max Content, looks ahead to the UK launch of HBO Max on Thursday 26 March, his guiding principle remains strikingly simple: make television people will pay for – and make it unlike anything else.

"One of the things about working at HBO for as long as I have… is that, before streaming, we were unique in that we were television people were asked to pay for," he says. "So in development, we would naturally ask ourselves: does this feel like television worth paying for?"

It’s a deceptively powerful framework – one that has shaped everything from Game of Thrones to Euphoria – and continues to underpin HBO’s strategy as it expands its direct-to-consumer offering in the UK.

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’s pushing boundaries in some way? Does it feel like it’s breaking new talent that you wouldn’t see somewhere else?"

What matters, he suggests, is not the definition but the discipline of asking. "There are many ways to approach it… but the fact that we’re asking the question has been a good guide for us."

Just as important is what that question rules out. "One of the things we’ve also asked over the years… is whether it feels like something you could see somewhere else or not."

That instinct – to differentiate rather than replicate – has been key to HBO’s 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.

"I remember when it came out it felt a bit like 'swords and sandals'," he says. "Something like Euphoria... we’d never had a protagonist be that young."

What links those shows is not genre but risk – and a willingness to back ideas that don’t fit the mould.

"I’ve been lucky enough… never to have worked for people who made me feel like, 'If this show doesn’t work, that’s it," Bloys says. "I would like to think I create the same environment… trying things and not being afraid to fail. Some things work, some things don’t, and understanding that failure is part of the process."

That philosophy has allowed HBO to greenlight projects that might otherwise have seemed unlikely. Industry, for instance, began as a low-budget experiment – a Cardiff-shot series built around writers with real-world finance experience and actors fresh out of drama school.

"It was really kind of an experiment: could we do a show for a relatively small budget… and used young talent… was there something in that low cost model that would make sense?" Bloys explains. "It was a very easy yes… and it felt like a really interesting way to approach something."

Five seasons on, the show is coming to a close – a decision driven as much by creative ambition as longevity. "It’s been five seasons… they’ve reinvented it so many times," he says. "I think five seasons is a really good run… I’d love to see what else they [series creators Mickey Down and Konrad Kay] could do."

Elsewhere, series like The White Lotus and even the original pitch for a drama, Succession, from comedy writer Jesse Armstrong underline the same point: experimentation is not the exception at HBO – it’s the system.

"Sometimes you’re rewarded when you take a shot, sometimes you’re not," Bloys says. "But you can’t overthink it or over-prescribe anything."

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, the network is deliberately reviving a "lost art" — the longer, broadcast-style season.

"One of the things… we would do sometimes is look around the landscape and see what’s not being done," Bloys says. "A lot of people were chasing us… seven or eight episodes, prestige series… and one of the things that kind of got neglected was… broadcast-style shows."

The result is a 15-episode season designed to return annually – a rarity in modern prestige television. "People have been busy… doing seven, eight episodes… every year-and-a-half to two years," he adds. "So when we looked around and said, 'Well, what’s not there?’ – that kind of show… felt like something that was missing."

Crucially, it’s not just about volume but reliability. "I know every January we’re going to have a new season," Bloys says. "You have to set up a show that you’re able to produce on an annual basis… writers who know how to turn around a show."

If that approach reflects a broader willingness to zig where others zag, HBO’s strategy around major IP is defined by restraint.

Despite the enduring popularity of Game of Thrones, Bloys is wary of overextending the franchise. "I don’t like to make any decisions ahead of time, like 'we need so many spin-offs'… because you may compromise," he says. "We’ve had exactly two spin-offs… and a lot of speculation elsewhere."

Development, he insists, remains a numbers game – but one where commitment comes late. "You really do have to develop a lot of things… without committing to a show."

The same philosophy applies to other properties, including Dune, which recently saw a spin-off in the form of the Dune: Prophecy series. "Just because something is big IP… nothing guarantees that people are going to tune in… or that the audience will be big and stay big," he says. "You still have to develop… find shows that are worthy."

Even the much-anticipated TV adaptation of Harry Potter is being approached with restraint. "The idea is not to… turn it into a DC or a Marvel," Bloys says. "The idea is to go in and do the books."

That means a longer-form, more detailed interpretation – with room for expansion. "There will be things in the show that were not in the movie… but are not off-canon," he explains. "The opportunity… is to spend more time with the books."

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 is still in early discussion.

For Bloys, the through-line is consistency of philosophy rather than certainty of outcome. HBO’s future, like its past, will be defined by the same central question — and the willingness to keep evolving around it.

"I think because you’ve got a core of people who’ve been there a long time and think about that development process — asking, is it worth paying for, is it new — there’s a built-in evolution," he says.

"If you look at different points along the way… part of what makes HBO work is that, by definition, in our DNA we’re not trying to do the same thing over and over again."

And as HBO Max arrives in the UK, that refusal to stand still may be its greatest asset.

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