What comes after Albrecht at HBO?

After the departure of its Chairman and Chief Executive, Chris Albert, US cable channel HBO faces an uncertain future, reports The New York Times.

Albrecht has been credited for engineering a stellar run of critically acclaimed, popular original programs, including ``The Sopranos,'' ``Sex and the City'' and ``Six Feet Under.'' The hits made HBO a dominant force at the Emmys going back to the 1990s and fueled HBO's robust audience base of more than 28 million subscribers.

But critics have carped in recent years that HBO was beginning to lose its magic touch. HBO's biggest hit of all, ''The Sopranos,'' is scheduled to end its run next month, and a fleet of untested new series will arrive in its wake. In addition, HBO has only taken tentative steps in the digital arena transforming the media business, a challenge Albrecht had declared a top priority.