HBO reveals Thrones date

US premium cablenet HBO has revealed its 2016 scheduling plans, including the premiere dates for the new seasons Game of Thrones (GoT) and political comedy Veep.

Game of Thrones returns in April

HBO will begin broadcasting the sixth season of GoT on April 24 in the US. Although the UK airdate is yet to be unveiled by Sky Atlantic, last year’s season-five premiere was simulcast in more than 170 countries and it is thought the same will happen again.

Australian pay TV broadcaster Foxtel has already confirmed it will show the first episode at the same time as the HBO broadcast – meaning it will air at 11.00 local time on Monday April 25.

HBO programming president Michael Lombardo also told reporters at the Television Critics Association’s winter press tour that the broadcaster is near a deal for another two-season renewal of GoT, which is based on the books by George R R Martin.

Comedy Silicon Valley also returns on April 24 for a 10-episode third season, with Veep set to begin airing its 10-part fifth run on the same date.

Meanwhile, HBO’s rock music drama Vinyl will air on February 14, while western fantasy series Westworld will premiere later in the year.

The cabler’s adaptation of Broadway show Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill, which tells the life story of musician Billie Holiday, will air on March 12.

Filmed before a live audience at Cafe Brasil in New Orleans, the special features Audra McDonald as the jazz icon.

Another Broadway adaptation, All the Way, which stars Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston as President Lyndon B Johnson, comes to HBO in May.

On the documentary front, HBO has announced its line-up for the first half of 2016. Among the shows to be released are Jacob Bernstein’s Everything is Copy, Liz Garbus’s Nothing Left Unsaid and Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato’s Mapplethorpe: Look at Pictures.