HBO Assesses Impact of ‘Brothers’ Campaign

With the benefit of hindsight, Sept. 9 appears an inopportune time to premiere a $120-million war epic. Small wonder that Home Box Office is still sorting through results for its 10-hour miniseries “Band of Brothers,” which recently concluded its run on Sunday nights, while deciding precisely how “Band” will play on.

Armed with a creative pedigree that included Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks as executive producers, the historical drama based on Stephen Ambrose’s book about the heroic exploits of the men of Easy Company premiered to spectacular ratings by the pay channel’s standards, amid a tidal wave of publicity and positive reviews.

The events of Sept. 11, however, somewhat muted the show’s fanfare, causing HBO to pull its advertising campaign in the immediate aftermath. While HBO executives insist they view the project as a success, even they admit “Band” didn’t generate the sort of noise it might have, had modern images of real-life war and carnage not suddenly invaded the collective consciousness.

“It was always going to be an emotional and difficult show to watch,” said Chris Albrecht, HBO’s president of original programming, adding that the terrorist attacks and subsequent military retaliation “just increased that feeling.”

As a result, HBO finds itself weighing how best to exploit the project further. Albrecht said a second showing of “Band of Brothers” will probably begin in March or April--a period timed not only to maximize exposure but also to keep the series fresh in the mind of Emmy Award voters, given that the deadline for prospective nominees comes at the end of May.

“It’s an important show. It needs to be out there again,” Albrecht noted, saying HBO would support the encore run with an advertising blitz and might use “Band” to experiment with the viability of original programming on a night other than Sunday. Albrecht called the miniseries “an evergreen” because of its content and period, one that will be on HBO “for as long as we need it to be.”

As always, it is difficult to calculate a program’s achievement level by HBO’s criteria, a formula only slightly less complicated than quantum physics. Because HBO is supported by subscribers, not advertising, the channel weighs such considerations as how many people cancel or begin subscribing while a program is on (figures that aren’t yet available) as well as the amount of publicity generated, which contributes to making those who already pay for HBO feel justified continuing to do so.

There is intangible value as well in reinforcing HBO’s image as a haven for prestige material--a place where filmmakers like Spielberg and stars like Hanks come with their pet projects, feeding the channel’s “It’s not TV. It’s HBO” marketing slogan. (Hanks also produced the earlier miniseries “From the Earth to the Moon” for HBO and has since signed to develop another about the American Revolution.)

After premiering to 10 million viewers before Sept. 11, the audience for “Band of Brothers” dipped to an average 6.2 million viewers over the next eight weeks, ranking as the second-most-watched multi-part program (behind “The Sopranos”) in HBO’s history and the highest-rated cable program during its run. Moreover, the competition included not only regularly scheduled series but also two World Series contests, culminating in a decisive seventh game that played opposite “Band’s” finale in much of the country, as did the 53rd annual Emmy Awards.

Counting multiple airings each week, HBO reports that more than 70% of its subscribers watched at least some portion of the miniseries, which increased viewing across various demographic segments--perhaps least surprisingly more than tripling the channel’s usual ratings among men over 50.

Nevertheless, given the promotional and publicity barrage HBO laid down before the premiere--with a series of glitzy galas, including one held at the Hollywood Bowl--some rival executives felt the pay service should be disappointed with those numbers, while acknowledging the impact of Sept. 11 is difficult to measure.

HBO is to a degree a victim of its own recent success. Programs such as “The Sopranos,” “Sex and the City” and “Six Feet Under” have raised the bar in terms of ratings expectations for the channel--which is received by roughly a third of U.S. homes--even though those series played during the spring and summer and thus mostly faced network reruns.

By contrast, “Band of Brothers” was meant to establish that HBO could compete against the heart of the major network lineups during the fall. “It’s not good for the retention of new subscriptions to be dark four months out of the year,” Albrecht said.

HBO has recouped part of the enormous expense of producing “Band” through international sales, and a video and DVD release will eventually follow. Such ancillary outlets have proven to be a significant source of revenue for the channel, with “The Sopranos: The Complete Second Season” collection currently selling briskly.

For all of that, it may be some time before the accountants and bookkeepers determine what the men of Easy Company’s tale truly accomplished, though Albrecht maintains the investment has already been justified. “We needed to be in business [during the fall],” he said, “and this was the perfect expeditionary force.”