HBO exec Casey Bloys not worried about post-Game of Thrones future

HBO achieved unprecedented success on the back of Game of Thrones, the most popular show in the world. Now that it’s over, what does the network do now? Is it scared it’ll lose relevance?

The Los Angeles Times spoke to HBO programming president Casey Bloys about the network’s future and learned that he’s more excited than worried. And why shouldn’t he be? While Thrones was busy chugging along and getting all the buzz, HBO was working on a variety of new shows, many of which have already made a splash, such as Westworld, Euphoria, Chernobyl, Big Little Lies, Barry and Succession. And if you’ve been paying attention, you know there’s way more where that came from. In the not-too-distant future, we have Watchmen, Stephen King’s The Outsider, His Dark Materials starring Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Jordan Peele’s Lovecraft Country to look forward to.

See, nothing to worry about at all!

Well, at least not for now. Right over the horizon, many companies are readying their own streaming services to compete with the likes of HBO. Apple has Apple TV Plus, CBS is about to add Viacom content to CBS All Access,  Disney has Disney+, Facebook Watch is a thing, DC Universe is still around, and we can’t forget about Netflix. And HBO will become the cornerstone of WarnerMedia’s own streaming service, HBO Max (we think; it’s still unclear how that one will work). So with all this looming ahead, how can Bloys remain so calm?

Simple. It’s because he believes that despite all the changes happening in the industry, HBO will always be true to what it is. “What it always was. Great writing, great cast, great direction. And context. Our shows will never exist just to exist; they all have something to say about the world.”

He’s got a point. HBO shows don’t usually just dissipate into thin air. Even if they’re not smash hits, they have their fans and are talked about, and that’s usually because they’re doing something a little different or taking a unique point of view. They don’t exist just to exist.

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Of course, the network still has to keep up with the times and be wary, but Bloys isn’t losing sleep over it. The fact that HBO is now owned by AT&T hasn’t phased him, either. That makes me confident that the network is going to keep doing what it’s doing for a long time to come, which is only a good thing for viewers.

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