Cinemax aims to broaden its show appeal

Reporting from New York —

For a long time, the approximately 12 million viewers who subscribe to Cinemax have pretty much known what they were going to get when they flipped to the pay-cable channel after the kids have gone to bed: big-budget Hollywood movies long past their moment and original series, such as “Zane’s Sex Chronicles,” meant to be watched with the lights out.

But if executives at the network have their way, Cinemax will soon become known for something else: a place to find high-caliber new entertainment from top creators such as Alan Ball and Luc Besson.

On Aug. 12, the network, so often the forgotten little sister of pay-TV powerhouse HBO, began broadcasting its first prime-time original series since it launched 31 years ago. “Strike Back” is a buddy action series about a strong and silent British operative (Philip Winchester) and his freewheeling American partner (Sullivan Stapleton). The two gleefully globetrot from one military and political crisis to another, using ingenuity and violence to settle their problems, Jack Bauer style. The show’s co-executive producer and writer is Frank Spotnitz, a key figure behind “The X-Files.”

It’s the first of several programs that will occupy a Friday-night time period that executives hope will become as much of a destination as HBO’s Sunday-night bloc. They include a television adaptation of the “Transporter” action-film franchise; a show about an ex-con in a small town that’s executive produced by “True Blood” and “Six Feet Under” creator Alan Ball; and a series from Spotnitz that will be built around a female butt-kicking heroine a la “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” and “Salt.”

The idea, the executives say, is not only to create a new vein of entertainment but to turn cable television’s penchant for moral ambiguity and dislikable characters on its head.

“This is not dark programming,” said Eric Kessler, the co-president of HBO, who also works heavily on Cinemax. “This is fun, sexy programming with action and humor. We want people to get their fill of things they don’t necessarily see elsewhere on cable.”

Kessler points out that, unlike a broadcast network — which also has a mandate for fun and humor but is limited in the amount of sex and violence it can portray — a pay channel like Cinemax can show graphic content without fear of FCC reprisal.

Given these advantages, then, why now? Kessler says that executives simply felt the time was finally right to jump into the original-programming game. But there may be a more powerful business reason.

HBO stood at the forefront of what has become a revolution in original series back when it created shows like “Sex and the City” and “The Sopranos” more than a decade ago. Soon after, other cable networks were following their lead. These days, nearly every piece of cable real-estate is filled with original series. Direct Cinemax competitor Encore, the Starz sister network known for feature films, is airing several original miniseries this year. A network that just a few years ago was known for broadcasting old movies, AMC, has some of the most acclaimed series on television, while FX and Showtime take their own share of the cable audience.

But while some networks want original content so they can add viewers and thus attract advertising dollars, Cinemax needs content to maintain and increase its subscriber base. Right now, the channel’s subscriber number is less than half of HBO’s 28.1 million (and, as competitors are quick to point out, many of those Cinemax subscribers receive the network because they get a discount with their HBO subscriptions). If Cinemax hopes to persuade a critical mass of viewers to pay full price, it needs to add something fresh. And fresh, in an era of easily available online porn and movies, means original series. (Not that the network is halting the movies or the soft-core porn.)

Cable and satellite TV operators also must be persuaded that Cinemax has content compelling enough that those operators should then promote the channel in their advertisements, mailings and customer-service calls.

The channel does hold an advantage in its bid to create compelling original series: Many of its programming decisions are made by people who also run HBO, giving the network relationships with platinum-caliber creative types. “Transporter,” for instance, unites the network with the French genre auteur Besson, who wrote and produced the films and will executive produce the series. The show, about the life of the mysterious criminal-world driver Frank Martin (played by Jason Statham in the films and Chris Vance in the TV version), is shooting and will air next year. “Banshee,” the Alan Ball show, looks to shoot in the spring.

But those high-level relationships also could pose an issue: Top-level producers and showrunners generally want their work to be taken seriously. The overall context of Cinemax is, by its own executives’ admission, “high-octane” and “fun.”

This may have already led to a difference of perspective on “Strike Back.” Although executives at Cinemax indeed use the phrase “high-octane” to describe the series, its co-executive producer and director, Dan Percival, said he resists the term.

“I’m a fan of action shows that aren’t just action but have a point of view,” he said, pointing out that the series is based on a memoir from a British special-forces agent and also uses real-life operatives as consultants. “We think we have something to say with our engagement with a world in conflict, that’s at conflict with itself, and the human cost it takes on soldiers and civilians,” he said. (Times critic Mary McNamara may be on the network’s side: She calls the show “unapologetically genre, international politics as window dressing for a sensational, albeit shallow, shoot ‘em up with modern Butch and Sundance eye candy.”)

The network will face other obstacles as it undergoes its reinvention. On many cable systems, Cinemax itself is difficult to find, usually appearing on the dial behind many of the HBO spinoff channels such as HBO Family and HBO Comedy. And even with promotion on HBO and an outdoor-marketing blitz — try driving five blocks in Los Angeles without seeing a “Strike Back” billboard — educating viewers that a network composed primarily of movies is now running an original series is never easy.

Cinemax will try to build momentum by airing its programs after similarly themed films. Friday’s episode of “Strike Back,” for instance, followed an airing of “Machete,” Robert Rodriguez’s 2010 ode to exploitation cinema. “We want people to feel like they’re getting a little mini-action movie every week, but in the context of a larger series,” said HBO Miniseries president Kary Antholis, who also oversees the new original-series programming at Cinemax.

“Strike Back” is off to a respectable start: The first episode premiered to 567,000 viewers, a decent if not overwhelming number for a new pay-cable series. By comparison, “Game of Thrones” debuted to 2.2 million viewers, although as a network HBO has the advantage of being in more than twice as many homes.

Cinemax executives say they are aware of the hurdles but believe they have a larger mission. “There will be challenges, and this will take time,” Kessler said. “We realize it’s a first step. But we’re committed to this as a long-term plan. We think there’s a real need for it in the cable universe.”

steve.zeitchik@latimes.com