Original programming (also called originals or original programs, and subcategorized as "original series", "original movies", "original documentaries" and "original specials") is a term used for in-house

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

web series A web series (also known as webseries, short-form series, and web show) is a series of short scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet (i.e. World Wide Web), which first emerged in the late 1 ...

productions to which the exclusive domestic and, if the originating service operates non-domestic versions of the service outside of their home country, international broadcast rights are held by traditional and over-the-top content providers. The term was coined by

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

in 1983 when the premium service began producing its slate of in-house series and film productions. HBO initially branded the original series on the network under "HBOriginal" until 1986, and by 1993, the "originals" term had expanded to encompass most of its original productions. The term eventually expanded into use by various cable-originated television networks (including, among others,

Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...

, TNT and

USA Network USA Network (or simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was launched in 1977 as Madison Square Garden Sports Network, one of the first national sports ...

) to identify their in-house productions. It also advertises them as being distinct from the acquired content offered to fill out the remainder of their programming schedule. Most original made-for-cable or made-for-streaming productions are produced solely in conjunction with independent production companies that also hold day-to-day management responsibilities for the program, although some series (such as ''

The Larry Sanders Show ''The Larry Sanders Show'' is an American television sitcom set in the office and studio of a fictional late-night talk show. Created by Garry Shandling and Dennis Klein, the show ran for six seasons and List of The Larry Sanders Show episodes, ...

'', '' Queer as Folk'', '' The Leftovers'' and '' Power'') share financial interests with major television studios—such as

20th Television 20th Television, Inc. (formerly known as TCF Television Productions, Inc., 20th Century-Fox Television and 20th Century Fox Television) is the television studio arm of 20th Century Studios, owned by Disney Television Studios, a division of the Di ...

, Warner Bros. Television and

Lionsgate Television Lionsgate Television is the television division of the American production company Lionsgate Studios. History The company was established in July 1997 as Lions Gate Television, Inc. with the establishment of Lionsgate Films. In June 1998, it ...

—that may also handle distribution responsibilities for domestic and international syndication on behalf of the originating network. Television networks and digital content providers that produce original programming include

Cinemax Cinemax is an American pay television network owned by Home Box Office, Inc., a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched on August 1, 1980, as a "maxi-pay" service to complement the offerings of its sister premium network, HBO (Home Box ...

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

, Showtime,

Amazon Prime Amazon Prime (styled as prime) is a paid subscription service of Amazon which is available in many countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services inclu ...

, and

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. In October 2020, CBS became the first American broadcast network to identify all of its entertainment programming under the term, branding them as "CBS Originals"; however, the network uses the "original" term for both series produced by sister production company

CBS Studios CBS Studios, Inc. is an American television production company which is a subsidiary of the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. It was formed on January 17, 2006, by CBS Corporation as CBS Paramount (Network) Television, as a re ...

and series produced by third-party production companies. ( ABC had previously marketed the 2016 miniseries '' Madoff'' and the 2019 made-for-TV movie ''Same Time, Next Christmas'' as "ABC Originals".)

References

{{Reflist Cable television Streaming television

See also

References